As churchgoers attend services this Sunday, one unusual central London congregation will eschew the collection plate in favour of an altogether more modern way of raising money: crowdfunding.

The Sunday Assembly – an atheist gathering, popular with urban professionals, that describes itself as a “godless congregation” – is launching a digital fundraising campaign. The goal is to raise £500,000 to expand the organisation.

Using the crowdfunding model – which brings individuals and groups together online to fund projects from start-ups to films and political campaigns – Sanderson Jones, the assembly’s co-founder, hopes to build “hundreds and, if all goes to plan, thousands” of communities.

The excitable, rangy Mr Jones, who has a big ginger beard and looks as Jesus might had he been a British hipster, says the services, which involve participants singing pop anthems such as “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”, are aimed at “celebrating being alive”.

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Nick Spencer, research director at Theos, a Christian think-tank, points out that atheist churches are not new. “Over 100 years ago, the ethical church movement started, [populated] with people who had lost their faith. This isn’t the driver in this case.”

Nonetheless, Mr Spencer finds parallels in that both are urban and driven by a desire for community and “meaningfulness”.

Fundraising, he says, is a good test of a group’s strength. “It’s one thing to meet, it’s another to pay for it.”

Emma Jacobs | Read the full article on ft.com

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