While a majority still consider themselves Christians, census data revealed in December that their numbers plummeted from 72 percent in 2001 to 59 percent in 2011.
The proportion of Britons with no religion, meanwhile, shot up from 15 percent to 25 percent over the same period.
But the Sunday Assembly’s success — 400 Londoners packed into last week’s two services, while 60 had to be turned away at the door — suggests many urban atheists crave the sense of community that comes with joining a church.
“You can spend all day in London not talking to anyone,” said Evans. “I think people really want somewhere they can go and meet other people, which doesn’t involve drinking and which you don’t have to pay to get into.”
It’s an idea that is catching the attention of atheists further field.
Jones reels off the locations of would-be atheist “vicars” who have asked to set up new branches.
“Colombia, Bali, Mexico, Houston, Silicon Valley, Philadelphia, Ohio, Calgary, all across Britain, The Hague, Vienna… It’s so ludicrously exciting that my head occasionally — literally — spins round.”