The Adelaide branch of international godless congregation, the Sunday Assembly, will celebrate a very unorthodox Christmas this year.

“The only part of Christmas that won’t be there is God,” organiser David Bartholomeusz told InDaily.

The Sunday Assembly is a monthly non-religious gathering in the format of a church service, where people of every religious and non-religious persuasion gather to celebrate life, encourage charity and pursue happiness.

Congregants of the Sunday Assembly will sing Yuletide carols – but only those which don’t reference religion – at an event in Hindmarsh Square in December.

“It’s like Carols by Candlelight without the God bit,” said Bartholomeusz.

“(The event is) for people who feel a bit left out at Christmas because they’re not Christian, or they want to share Christmas with people who are not Christian.

“Christians are welcome to come. There are plenty of songs that Christians will like, too.”

The Sunday Assembly, whose motto is “live better, help often, wonder more”, is the brainchild of British comedians Pippa Evans and Sanderson Jones.

It has congregations in 15 countries, including in each Australian capital city except Darwin.

Bartholomeusz insists the congregation is not anti-religion, but rather a secular gathering of  religious and non-religious people which celebrates life and ignores religious dogma.

“There are people with deep spiritual beliefs, there are people with absolutely no spiritual beliefs, there are all different socio-economic demographics,” he said.

“We’re not anti-religion.

“We just take the God bit out, and leave all the other stuff which is really awesome about church.”

A  Sunday Assembly service at the Box Factory in Adelaide.

Some of those who attend the Adelaide congregation are people who have been religious in the past, including Bartholomeusz.

“For me, as a young person in a country community … if you weren’t in the church you were out. You were not in that group,” he said.

“Christmas time was a real family time, and for me, not being a part of the church anymore was a real peril in there, that I just lost a whole lot of community.”

Bartholomeusz said most of the criticism of the Sunday Assembly comes not from religious groups but from atheists.

“There’s a lot of people out there in the atheist community that want to be part of something like this community, but they want it to fit some sort of framework,” he said.

“The whole point of this is to be without dogma.

“There is no atheism going on there. There is no absence of god and there is no presence of god. It’s just not about that.”

The Sunday Assembly in Adelaide has about 40 regular attendees. It began holding monthly congregations in November last year.

The Uniting Church told InDaily in a statement: “Many Australians celebrate Christmas. Some come to this celebration from the perspective of their Christian faith. Other Australians may come from a non-religious worldview, but see Christmas as an opportunity for us as communities to focus on our deepest longings as humans for peace and hope in our world.”

“We welcome people celebrating Christmas in whatever way is appropriate for them.”