The sounds of the season filled the halls of the Scarritt Bennett Center at Vanderbilt University on a recent Sunday morning.
In the chapel, a congregation of about 80 people gathered, while the band launched into a holiday classic: “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”
They followed up with a cover of Tim Minchin’s “White Wine in the Sun.”
“I really like Christmas. It’s sentimental, I know, but I just really like it,” sang Adam Newton, host for the Sunday service. “I am hardly religious. I’d rather break bread with Dawkins than Desmond Tutu, to be honest.”
Welcome to the “Heathen Holidays,” a Christmas celebration for the nonreligious, hosted by the local chapter of the Sunday Assembly.