NOM

Does anybody else out there affiliate in any way with the Oasis Community? I have attended about a half dozen of their gatherings and I have a feeling that this may end up being my "church."

If you don't know about them, Oasis is a secular community that has regular Sunday meetings, activities, service projects, etc. Their motto is "Community Beyond Belief." There are generally about 40-50 attendees with a demographic that feels kind of like a small ward or branch, but overall younger and with casual clothes and some tattoos and piercings. There is even a separate meeting for the little 'uns.

I believe they started in Texas and they have a branch that meets downtown in SLC every Sunday at 11:00 with meetings that have excellent musical performers and speakers. The topics I have heard included meditation, secular Buddhism, stories from early Mormon Polygamy (Lindsay Hansen Park), etc. No intentional religion bashing. They also do presentations about health, diet, LGBTQ and other support issues, science, evolution, parenting, psychology, etc. This week was a very entertaining presentation by two Texas atheists who have made a hobby of visiting Christian Sunday schools and having frank and friendly non-confrontational discussions with the church goers (surprise, they found LDS Sunday school to be the least friendly and welcoming, more so than hardcore Evangelicals and Pentacostals). Next week's presentation will be an artist/writer/Japanese internment camp survivor.

And if that's not enough: free coffee and snacks, but they do pass the basket for voluntary donations to cover the costs.

Mrs. Hagoth has been to about half of the meetings I attended and is actually encouraging me to get more involved.

Their website is http://www.saltlakeoasis.org/ but they tend to be a week or two behind on their upcoming events calendar. I signed up for the email list which will give me better advance notice. Unlike church, they don't expect you to attend if the topic doesn't interest you.

Anyway, if you're at a point in your journey where you can actually start moving on in your Sunday activities and if you're looking for a community, you might want to take a look.

I would like to try Oasis at some point. It's not likely to happen anytime soon in the current religious armistice with my wife.

Say "HI" to my cousin next time you go Hagoth.

Interesting. I would be down for that. Probably not in my near future. I dont think there is one here and I am stuck in the middle.

Darn, they meet during my wife's choir practice. Maybe in January when the block changes.

I have a daughter involved in a similar group meeting at the same time just a few blocks away. She has asked me to sing with the band for an upcoming Sunday.

Many of us would still like to have community and opportunities to serve without all baggage and silliness of religious dogma.

DPRoberts wrote: ↑Sat Sep 29, 2018 10:51 am I have a daughter involved in a similar group meeting at the same time just a few blocks away. She has asked me to sing with the band for an upcoming Sunday.

Many of us would still like to have community and opportunities to serve without all baggage and silliness of religious dogma.

Is that group called Sunday Assembly, DPR?

That's the one.

DPRoberts wrote: ↑Sat Sep 29, 2018 1:45 pm That's the one.

Maybe I should check out that one too. Or maybe they should join forces.

I was thinking the latter.

ETA: Not to say there's anything wrong with the Sunday assembly. We have gone to some of their functions to support DD and they have some good ideas about what they want to be. We went to their pie and beer day July social and met some interesting people.

Excellent meeting today and great music. Mrs. Hagoth joined me and made a friend. Me too. I hung out with Mythrin, of DAMU game. His "calling" in the organization is to play Dungeons and Dragons with the teens.

I like their group. I go every once and a while, depending on the speaker. I find they go up and down, up and down. They tend to slow things down in the summer and pick back up in the fall.

If you go, don't forget to send them a few bucks. They are running on a shoestring budget.