Sure, it's called a library.

Ermmm....but they don't have singing or stand-up comedy do they?

I am not a practicing athiest but i would be interested in attending if anyone started something similar in Geneva

The pub then, although it's true that that is open to believers, Great Escape looks like a church youth club.

Er...yes...missing the point here though.I thing the people who started this were impressed by the way churches could be great community centres and sources of support for people in an increasingly selfish society where people feel often very isolated - if only the "god" bit were taken away.

Don't think the Great Escape sets out to promote kindness and caring for others....unless you count fighting your way to the always crowded bar to buy a round 

I'm not so sure.....I'm always promote more kindness and caring when I'm sloshed - I'll snog anyone after too many glasses of vino 

Oh- haven't see this side of you yet Carolyn.Will keep plying you with alcohol next time there is a Glocals event

There's a bit of a philosophical problem with the attempted combination of atheism and ritual church attendance, and I'm not sure that a shared belief in the absence of something is much of a community bond.

I suppose we could build a statue of Richard Dawkins and sing songs about evolution.

I think the idea behind atheist churches is that in many countries there are many atheists, possibly more than believers, but that they do not have any form of organization. It's not necessarily that Atheists want to come together on a Sunday morning, but that religious organization have powerful influence over national and local policy-making, and atheists do not have an organization to represent them. This is the reason why sceptic conferences are now a thing, and atheist churches would have the same purpose. 

I could only think of one song about evolution ...

Actually,I know people who do this in London,but not for the reasons you give.It's more because they live in an environment where people tend to be isolated and the old social cohesion that existed in our parents' generation has broken down(plus,as the welfare system is being slowly dismantled and our way of life becomes a survival of the fittest,people feel the need to promote a community where caring for and helping each other is seen as a good thing)

Churches offer the above to varying degrees  - but the god stuff gets in the way for many people!!

There are also the occasions in life, where there is a need for a formal ceremony, without necessarily involving religion. For this, non-religous societies have a role:

Take as an example a funeral. You want to hold a ceremony to honor/remember the deceased. even if there is no religion concerned.

Another example is the passage from child to adult. In many Christian societies, this has been the Confirmation. (The young adult, confirming the coice made by his/her parents during baptism.) Since fewer believe in religion, in Scandinavia, where I come from, the habit has been taken to organise a non-religious celebration of the passage to adulthood, still called Confirmation.

So yes, a non-religious "church" can absolutely have its role.

Churches offer the above to varying degrees  - but the god stuff gets in the way for many people!!

And God said, let there be an alternative to those lost souls who want to congregate in the House of the Lord, but without me...

And along came Scientology.....

Ha ha ha ha!!! Very good!

Thanks!  I'd hate to disappoint....

It is not as if the Atheist movement could not learn from religion. Humans like/need rituals and the church provide. For many Atheists, there is a need for secular/non-religious services like weddings, funerals, baptism (or "baby enters society"), and a coming-of-age events, like First Communion or Bar Mitzvah.

Plus events, that show the passing of the year. True, New Year are secular and at in the US, Thanksgiving is also quite secular. But Winter Solctice has been "stolen" by the Chrisitans and Summer Solctice is neglected in most countries.

Weddings and marriage were originally not religious per se, but have been 'stolen' as you put it, by christianity and religion, which makes the gay marriage debate in the US just that little bit more hilarious.

I'd say that the community spirit is for sure a positive addition if an 'atheist church' were to open. I'm more agnostic than atheist, but could see the benefit of having a church where each evening/session is for another religion/belief system but keeping it as far removed from the religious sides of things and more for the morals and stories. I cant remembe the days when everyone would know their neighbours etc, it has been that long.

Community has pretty much disappeared from modern society and this could be helpful. It would be more a philosophical approach to discuss important topics and hear stories relating them to daily life. Not necessarily a gathering of 'god doesnt exist' as some perceive atheists to be.

The so-called 'gay marriage' debate is not just in the US. Today's edition of Le Monde has a full page advertisement from a group titled "La Manif Pour Tous"   And the anti-same sex union has picked up a lot of steam in France, backed by . extreme right Catholic and other forces. 

 At present, only 8 European nations recognize same-sex marriage (Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spainand Sweden.)

Switzerland recognizes civil unions but these unions do not confer the same benefits as marriage.

Communities exist in many modern societies however not always in a previously recognized form. In Switzerland, one can participate in many activities in the local 'maison de commune." I think it all depends upon how community and perhaps 'neighborhood' are defined.