“First, let’s consider the insight that Dr. John Dietrich brought to this congregation
when he was called here back in 1916. Dietrich imagined an American Protestant style
religious gathering that could be done without reference to a god or traditional
religious trappings such as scriptures or religious language. Secular poetry and
secular music, Dietrich thought, would do just as well.

Out of this insight, Dietrich and the people of this congregation created what they
called ‘religious humanism,’ what today I like to call ‘congregational humanism.’
One-hundred-and-one-years of weekly gatherings have proven that the model works.
And today, UU ministers, Ethical Culture Leaders, and Humanist Celebrants across the
nation serve the life-passage needs of people who identify with no religion.

But there is a problem with that model: Remind yourself: when John Dietrich arrived
here in 1916, most everyone in the city belonged to a congregation. What Dietrich
and his partner in Humanism, Curtis Reese, thought they were doing was placing a
time bomb under Christian dogma but keeping the idea of congregations. They
thought that science and critical thinking and technology and democracy would
destroy ideas that they considered to be old fashioned—such ideas as a god who is
like a European king; such ideas as praying rather than rolling up our sleeves and
getting to work; such ideas as passivity in the face of government, economics,
superstition, and the human condition in general.

A century and more have shown that they were only partially correct in their
assumptions. What blew up was not superstition or the human need for the spiritual.
Rather, it was the social binding that religion offered that went to pieces over the
decades.

The telephone. The automobile. The radio. Then television. Then the internet. Since
1916, the physical bodies and brains of our species have evolved in the slow, halting
pace that they always have. But our technology . . . that evolved at break-neck speed.
In the century of Humanism, capitalism went from a system severely questioned by
the Russian Revolution and then the economic collapse of the Great Depression, to
the only game in town for most human beings living on our planet.

Things have changed, and our thinking about what religion means must change as
well. "

http://firstunitarian.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Talk-Aggregating.pdf

“Sanderson Jones loved almost everything about church – the singing, community, optimism, can-do attitude, do-good spirit. It was just the God bit he couldn’t cope with.

So he decided to set up an alternative with a fellow comedian, Pippa Evans. It would incorporate many conventions associated with traditional places of worship, but do away with the deities. So while there would be sing-songs and sermons, collections and volunteering, tea and biscuits, there wouldn’t be as much as a hint of the holy or hereafter. The first Sunday Assembly took place in January 2013. ”

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/14/like-idea-church-believe-god-sunday-assembly

Re-inventing. Religion: Atheopaganism? Yes, that’s a thing.

https://atheopaganism.wordpress.com/atheopaganism/

“The articles of incorporation defined the Society’s purpose as to form an association where “people without regard to theological differences may unite for mutual helpfulness in intellectual, moral, and religious culture, and humane work.” ³

The sermons of Rev. Simmons on evolution, science, and ethics drew large crowds. Simmons was a vocal opponent of the U.S. invasion of the Philippines and the congregation was instrumental in convincing the state of Minnesota to withdraw its troops from the war. ^{4 5}

…First Unitarian Society remains a humanist congregation and is a focal point for humanist, freethought, and atheist groups in the Twin Cities.”

History of FUS Minneapolis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Unitarian_Society_of_Minneapolis