By Steven Dale

Live better, help often, wonder more was the uplifting message delivered to a godless congregation at St Andrew’s Church in Waterloo Street, Hove.

The Sunday Assembly Brighton held its inaugural meeting at 11am on September 22, to a packed house of more than 230 people.

Special guest Mark Stevenson, author of An Optimist’s Tour of the Future described the event as: “A celebration of being human and trying to be better.”

In his talk Mr Stevenson, 42, outlined various principles for how to make a better future, including "have unashamed optimism of ambition about the future", and "making mistakes is ok but not trying is irresponsible".

The assembly also featured a variety of songs with everything from band led sing-alongs to hymns such Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now and Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild.

Committee member Stuart Balkham, 31, said: “We aspire for it to be open, completely non denominational.”

He added: “We just removed god from the equation and do all the other really fun bits like singing along and listening to inspirational talks.”

The Sunday Assembly Brighton will continue to hold events on a monthly basis.

It  follows on from the Sunday Assembly in London which started up earlier in the year. There are already plans in place for 30 new assemblies across the UK, North America and Australia.

University of Sussex lecturer in the Informatics Department and committee member Simon McGregor, 40, said: “It’s quite sad that secularisation has resulted in the loss of social institutions that provide things of social value."

Committee member and civil engineer Simon Clare, 35, said: “In providing this we just want to show that it’s possible to do this kind of thing without the need for religion.”