Sunday Assembly Chapel Hill is a secular community that celebrates life! We gather together with our distinct shades of belief and unbelief to form a community in the spirit of radical inclusion. As individuals our stories are broad, diverse, and nuanced. As a community, our diversity makes us resilient and vibrant. Our common purpose is to live better, help often, and wonder more.
Harassment and Discrimination are Not Tolerated
Sunday Assembly Chapel Hill events should be free from all forms of harassment and inclusive of all people. It is important to understand the range of behaviors that may constitute harassment. Harassment can include unwelcome or offensive verbal comments or nonverbal expressions related to: age; appearance or body size; employment or military status; ethnicity; gender identity or expression; individual lifestyles; marital status; national origin; physical or cognitive ability; political affiliation; sexual orientation; race; or religion. Harassment can also include use of sexual and/or discriminatory images in public spaces (including online); deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; bullying behavior; inappropriate physical contact; and unwelcome sexual attention.
How to Report and Respond
We will not tolerate harassment of Sunday Assembly community members in any form. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a Sunday Assembly organizing team member immediately. Organizing team volunteers can be identified by their name badges and green lanyards. They will assist participants by contacting local law enforcement, providing escorts, or otherwise helping those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the event.
Participants at Assembly or any other SACH-hosted discussion or event (held online or in person, including sponsored social events) who are asked to stop harassing or intimidating behaviors are expected to comply immediately. Those who who violate our code of conduct may be warned or expelled from the event at the discretion of the organizers. Outside of the initial event, the Board will determine if additional steps are required and share these with the Assembly in a transparent way.
We value your presence and constructive participation in our shared community, and thank you for your attention to the comfort, safety, and well-being of fellow Sunday Assembly Chapel Hill community members.
The Sunday Assembly Chapel Hill Mission Statement
We are a diverse congregation that affirms and embraces our varied beliefs with acceptance and inclusion. We gather to celebrate our shared human existence and to cultivate a sense of wonder and discovery. We seek to exalt learning, propose joy, and promote fun. We want to inspire, share with, and support our members, visitors, and community.
Participation and Volunteer Leadership: Our Values in Action
As a Sunday Assembly community we are guided by the core values outlined in our mission and motto. We ask that our organizing team, board members, band members, and volunteers inform their efforts with these values. We ask that anyone attending a Sunday Assembly event to abide by this code.
- Be Nice: We respect each other even when we disagree.
- We use welcoming language, for instance by honoring pronoun preferences and favoring gender-neutral collective nouns (“people,” not “guys”);
- We stay alert, as Active Bystanders, to the welfare of those around us.
- We remember the need of others to be heard.
- We offer critiques of ideas, not people. We always consider how words or actions may be interpreted, both offline and online.
- We look for ways to make ideas work, not for reasons that they won’t.
- We assume the best of the other person and avoid personal attacks or negative assumptions – about ourselves or anyone else.
- Have Fun: We seek to exalt learning, propose joy, and promote fun in a radically inclusive environment.
- We maintain a family-friendly community that is welcoming to people of all ages.
- We recognize the diversity of genders, philosophies, professions, and ethnicities in the community and potential community.
- We celebrate life by enjoying the things we all share. We prefer to talk about the things that we do believe in, rather than the things we don’t.
- We put the needs and interests of the community ahead of our individual tastes and preferences. We avoid activities that could diminish the appeal of the Assembly to its potential and existing participants.
- Join In: We know that we are a sustainable community only if we all put forth our best effort.
- We respect people’s time by being on time for our commitments and starting and ending our Assembly on time.
- If things are going well, we stop to recognize and celebrate!
- If things are not going well, we tell someone. We keep others informed, so problems don’t get worse.
- We offer support to one another, and accept it when it comes our way.
In addition to these values, every community participant is expected to abide by all state and federal laws.
This document has been made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license. This code of conduct adapted from discussions with Sunday Assembly international leadership and with inspiration from and thanks to the DLF Forum for making their language available for reuse.