VOA常速英语2014--Church for Atheists Goes Global

 

Church for Atheists Goes Global

NASHVILLE— 

Atheists, by definition, do not believe in God. So they should have no need of a church. But two years ago, a pair of British stand-up comedians² - Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans - decided³ to create one.

Their “Sunday Assembly” movement - something like church, they say, but without God - has grown from a single congregation in London to dozens of congregations around the world.

The Assembly in Nashville, Tennessee, meets once a month. A recent gathering⁴, on a warm Sunday morning in a downtown park, had the look and feel of church. There were songs - all Beatles tunes⁵ on this day - special readings, a message, even an offering at the end of the service.  Original Nashville Assembly member Landry Butler says that is intentional⁶: church provides a great model for building a sense of community.

“That has a powerful way of bringing people together for the common good and focusing that energy. So we wanted to use that as a model. Because it’s something that people are familiar with.”

And church is especially familiar in this region. Religious participation⁷ rates in Tennessee are some of the highest in the nation. So Butler says he’s always surprised at how many believers show up for the atheist¹ service. “They go back to their regular church the other Sunday’s of the month, and then they come and hang with us when they can.  And that’s been a good way of sort of bridging those two communities.”

Motto: Live Better, Help Often and Wonder More

That gap between believers and atheists has always been tense and sometimes hostile, but Butler says the Assembly isn’t interested in conflict.

“There are a lot of atheists out there who like to beat up on religious people, and we’re not about that. We want to be all inclusive.”

A good example of that inclusiveness plays out regularly at a local homeless shelter. Volunteers from the Sunday Assembly routinely help serve meals at Room-in-the-Inn, a Christian⁸ ministry⁹ that serves Nashville’s homeless. The group prepares the food, serves it, and interacts with the men and women who show up for a hot meal. Elvis Wilson says one of the Sunday Assembly’s core values is “help often.”

“As an atheist, I want people to know that I care and that we have moral values," he explained. "We live in the now. We want to make sure that people are treated with respect and well taken care of.”

The Sunday Assembly movement has experienced phenomenal growth. At the end of September, more than 30 new assemblies met on a single Sunday. Founders¹⁰ Jones and Evans are now in the process of crowd-funding a website that they hope will tie the global movement together.  

1 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

2 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

7 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句