Atheism services on the rise at colleges

To some people, God is one entity. To others, there are many gods – and still to others, there are simply none.

Across college campuses in Boston, student atheists and similar organizations are on the rise, but some of these groups have taken a different approach to their atheism. Both Harvard University and Tufts University have student clubs in the Secular Student Alliance, an umbrella group for atheists and nonbelievers that take their beliefs one step further and hold services for atheists.

Although Boston University has no alliance and its atheists do not congregate, Harvard Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein said the idea of atheist services will catch on at other schools.

“Already there are a small group of schools that have humanist chaplains like Harvard,” Epstein said.

The new idea of bringing atheists together is an aspect Boston Atheists Director Zach Bos says is important.

“A congregation is just a group of people that come together,” said Bos, a Core curriculum administrative coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Atheist congregations can use the same methods churches do to draw nonbelievers together, Bos said.

“[Use] the aesthetic pleasure of song, the humane hunger to address questions of ultimate meaning and just remove from it all those things that religion comprises for the sake of its own perpetuation,” he said.

Even though there are no atheist groups on the Charles River Campus and there have not been any for several years, Bos said there were chapters of Campus Freethought Alliance and BU Religion of Nonbelievers in the 1990s, so a resurgence of the group is possible.

Marsh Chapel Dean Robert Hill said he is open to the idea of services being held for nonbelievers because he wants to provide services to everyone.

The services offered at Harvard range from weekly services, such as a the Humanist Passover Seder, to community-service congregations.

“Some of our events lately have been sold out while others have been a smaller group of 15 to 20 people,” Epstein said. “Some students might perceive it closely to a religious service and do not want to be a part of it. My main goal is to make this world which will never be perfect a better place.”

Boston Atheists’ activities includes group dinners, philosophical discussions and film screenings.

“Although many of our members have voiced an interest in examining the feasibility of a congregational service, there are no plans to begin any sort of service in the near future,” Bos said.

Hill said Marsh Chapel offers pastoral counseling to all students, of all religions and mixtures, and the Chapel also holds luncheons to discuss students’ faiths and doubts.

“College is a great place to explore and grow,” he said. “We want to help everyone on their spiritual journey, whatever that is.”