What we’re about
Hello from Sunday Assembly Sydney!
The Sunday Assembly was started in the UK by Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans, two comedians who discovered they both wanted to do something that was like church (community, volunteering, reflection, joyous carol concerts!) but without religion so it could be inclusive of all — no matter what they believed.
There are now over 70 assemblies around the world creating inspiring, fun and caring communities, all with a pretty cool motto - Live Better, Help Often and Wonder More! - so welcome to the Sydney one!
To find out more about The Sunday Assembly movement, have a look here.
What can you expect at an assembly?
Assemblies round the world get together for an hour one or two Sundays of every month and sing awesome pop songs (a bit like the Late Late show's carpool karaoke), hear inspiring talks (a bit like TED), listen to insightful readings, then mingle afterwards and make new friends over tea and cake. Everyone is encouraged to have fun, be nice and join in!
What's happening at Sunday Assembly Sydney?
There's been a few people asking about the next Sunday Assembly Sydney date. Unfortunately as a committee we have put Assemblies on hold for now. It is not because we don't think it has value, because it does. It is not because we don't enjoy it, because we do!
The reason we are putting Assemblies on hold is because there is only so much energy and financial input we can give by ourselves, and Sunday Assembly is more than we can handle with our young families. If anyone else wants to take on the role of committee then we are happy to share our knowledge and know how.
Community members are still arranging regular Sunday Assembly Social events which are less demanding from an organisational perspective. We hope these events keep Sunday Assembly Sydney alive and kicking!
The Philosophy Smoup (small group!) continues, led by Alex and Gavin and some Sunday Assembly Social Smoups are about to kick off. Watch out for them here on Meetup and we hope to see you there! :)
Juliet, Alinta, Jo and James xox
For more info on the Sunday Assembly organisation check out:
If you'd like to learn more about Sunday Assembly Sydney visit:
Sunday Assembly Sydney's facebook page
Sunday Assembly London's facebook page
Huffington Post hangs out at Yule Rock, Sunday Assembly London, Christmas 2015
Plus where we've been mentioned:
Sydney Morning Herald - Good Weekend
Upcoming events (1)
See all- Human hearted community of practiceBotany View Hotel, Newtown, NS
Event summary:
This is the monthly meeting of our human hearted community of practice (COP). The COP is both a support group, and a mutual encouragement group, for people who want to explore living a more human hearted life.Who is the COP for ?
The COP is for people who dislike the alienation and emptiness of our modern finance driven society, and are looking for a new form of community - one based on the reality of our human social capacities such as sympathy and friendship, rather than based on returning to religion and other traditional practices. If you would like to be part of building a supportive community for living out socially positive values in today’s world we encourage you to come along and check it out.
Some background: The meaning problem modern society faces -
The development of modern society has seen the destruction of earlier systems of meaning, like religion and tradition. They have not been replaced by a new set of ethics or community, but by market values and hyper individualism. This has created a world of material wealth in which far too many people feel insecure, alone, and unlikely to succeed. We now live in an atomised society in which each person suffers alone and there is no form of community, or meaning other than material wealth, to sustain them. This has led to substantial increases in loneliness and mental health issues like anxiety in modern society. Now there is even a category called ‘deaths of despair’ that refers to people whose reliance on drugs, alcohol etc. to numb their isolation from society leads to their early death.
More background: The solution we will look at -
The obvious solution to the collapse of values in modern society is to build alternative forms of community. Many groups try to achieve this by calling for a return to religious values, or building new religions. As humanists we do not turn to religion but the best of the human potential to provide a foundation for community groups.
Human heartedness is an approach to life which sees humans as inherently social beings. It is backed both by many famous thinkers of the past, and by the findings of recent neuroscience and evolutionary studies which show the path to human happiness and fulfillment is more dependent on building good relationships and positive social connection than on competition and being purely ‘rational’.
So one part of the solution to the existential emptiness of modernity is for people to build small communities; groups of like minded people who want to live in a more human hearted way, and support each other to live better in the face of modernity’s onslaught. There are other parts of the solution of course. However in relation to this event our focus is on setting up a COP to support each other to practice living in a more human hearted way, and to provide communal support generally in today’s disenchanted world.
Basic structure of this meeting:
The meeting will be facilitated by a member of the Sydney humanist community and will involve a brief talk by Lyndon Storey explaining human heartedness and the problems of modernity. Then we will proceed to conduct our regular COP meeting. The meeting will finish with a Q/A and discussion period, followed by a lunch and more informal discussion.
