The Sunday Assembly movement began in January 2013 when 180 people gathered at a venue in London’s Islington to sing songs, spend time in quiet reflection and listen to uplifting stories in a God-free zone. “The atheist church”, as it was first known, has gone on to establish 70 branches around the world with the aim, as co-founder Sanderson Jones put it, of  “celebrating life” and helping supporters to live their lives “as fully as possible”.