Sunday Assembly Nashville

Our speaker for June is coming from Launch Pad, an organization that provides shelter for displaced youth in Davidson County and is LGBTQ affirming. Launch Pad told us they could use donations of items they provide to those who shelter with them, so we will hold a supply drive during the June assembly.

One of the big needs is packs of ramen noodles and condiments in bottles, particularly hot sauce and ranch dressing.

Other items Launch Pad could use include underwear, sweatpants, t-shirts, warmer packs for hands or feet, and wall blocks for USB-C devices.

Launch Pad’s website and Linktree have their Amazon and donate links as well.

A perspective to acSANtuate on June 2, 2026:

On this date in 1941, Lou Gehrig died at age 37 of ALS. Also on this date in 2016, the results of an autopsy revealed that Prince died at 57 of an accidental fentanyl overdose.

More recently, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch (pictured) died at age 41 from severe pneumonia and sepsis.

None of these people were of retirement age. Only Gehrig was not still active.

At Sunday Assembly, we strive to celebrate the one life we know we have. Dying is not limited to the old, and this knowledge can make each day more precious.

Sylvia Plath wrote about the need “to live richly in the present, without letting it be tainted.” Plath implored “Remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it, cling to it.”

“Transgender kids share the same everyday concerns as other children, such as hoping their mom doesn’t ask them to do the dishes.” – from an ACLU YouTube short

“Despite the constant hatred we face as the LGBTQ+ community, we must stand united and strong in spreading our message of love.” – Jazz Jennings, from TLC’s I Am Jazz

Join Sunday Assembly Nashville on June 14 at East Park Community Center to look at the need for safeguarding transgender children, who have already made harder decisions on who they are than most of us. Our speaker comes from Launch Pad, an LGBTQ affirming organization providing street-free shelter for displaced Davidson County young adults.

We will also have an important discussion about a potential new venue to hold future assemblies. This is a decision where the community’s participation is encouraged.

Our all ages program begins at 10:30 a.m. Off street parking is plentiful and free. We enjoy a potluck brunch after Assembly.

Sunday Assembly is a celebration of the one life we know we have. We want Sunday Assembly to be a place of love and compassion where, no matter what your situation, you are welcomed, accepted, loved, and encouraged to live your best life.

Back with more to acSANtuate:

May 22 is Harvey Milk Day, recognizing the iconic first openly gay person elected to public office in California. He once said “It takes no compromising to give people their rights.”

In a time when acceptance is actively discouraged in many official circles, communities like Sunday Assembly Nashville have become more valuable. We are radically inclusive, predisposed as an historically marginalized population of non-believers. We value people over categories and welcome all who welcome all.

Accepting and creating space for those outside the mainstream affirms dignity, provides connection, and fosters resilience - all through the power of an empathetic community. See what we're up to on Meetup.

“You realize that you habitually thought of Mom when something in your life was not going well, because when you thought of her it was as though something got back on track, and you felt re-energized.”
– Kyung-Sook Shin, from Please Look After Mom

We’re being Mothers Day adjacent. Join Sunday Assembly Nashville, not on our usual second Sunday but on May 3 at East Park Community Center to reflect on the uniqueness of how we relate to our mothers, the pureness and the complexities inherent in them and in how we see them. Members of our community will share brief stories and remembrances of our mothers,

IMPORTANT NOTE ON THIS ASSEMBLY: Due to limited facility availability, our all ages program BEGINS EARLY at 10:15 a.m., and there will be NO POTLUCK for this assembly. Off street parking, as always, is plentiful and free.

Sunday Assembly is a celebration of the one life we know we have. We want Sunday Assembly to be a place of love and compassion where, no matter what your situation, you are welcomed, accepted, loved, and encouraged to live your best life.

Back with more to acSANtuate:

The Artimus II mission has completed, but this planet is still our home - and Earth Day is Wednesday, April 22.

Earth Day is an environmental movement started in 1970 by Ga***rd Nelson, a senator from Wisconsin and Denis Hayes, a student at Harvard Kennedy School. This year marks the 56th anniversary of Earth Day. Our city commemorates the occasion with Nashville Earth Day on Saturday, April 18 at Centennial Park.

The wonder and awe of nature needs safeguarding so generations to come can also enjoy. Some small practices can make a difference in protecting our habitat, such as supporting our pollinators - bees, birds, butterflies - by utilizing whatever outdoor space we have with feeders and gardens.

Welcome to this look at things to acSANtuate. We here at SAN are naturally drawn to science, like the Artemis 2 moon mission that lifted off on Wednesday, April 1.

One day into the mission, Artemis 2’s Orion spacecraft left Earth orbit - the first manned space vessel to do so since Apollo 17 in 1972 - and started its trajectory that will take it around the moon.

The engineering and literal rocket science required to undertake manned space flight is unthinkable without a commitment to robust education and a vision to explore.

Even mundane issues on Earth require advanced engineering and problem solving in space. The Artemis 2 crew and Mission Control had to solve a problem with the zero gravity toilet shortly after launch.

Those old enough to remember the Apollo missions must be experiencing a thrilling sense of deja vu as Artemis 2 heads to the moon for the first time in half a century. Go to NASA’s website or their YouTube channel for live coverage.

Picture: Orion on the left, Earth on the right

“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.”
― Robert Frost

April is national poetry month! Join Sunday Assembly Nashville on April 12 at East Park Community Center. Our speaker will be poet Christine Hall, author of Weird Wishes and host of Second Sunday Open Mic at Betty’s Grill.

Our all ages program begins at 10:30 a.m. Off street parking is plentiful and free. We enjoy a potluck brunch after Assembly.

Sunday Assembly is a celebration of the one life we know we have. We want Sunday Assembly to be a place of love and compassion where, no matter what your situation, you are welcomed, accepted, loved, and encouraged to live your best life.

“In some ways, we will always be different. In other ways, we will always be the same. There is always room to disagree and blame, just as there is always room to take a new perspective and empathize. Understanding is a choice.” – Vironika Tugaleva

Join Sunday Assembly Nashville on March 8 at East Park Community Center as we consider what is involved in communicating when we’re on different pages. Our speaker will be Amber DiTullio.

Our all ages program begins at 10:30 a.m. Off street parking is plentiful and free. We enjoy a potluck brunch after Assembly.

Sunday Assembly is a celebration of the one life we know we have. We want Sunday Assembly to be a place of love and compassion where, no matter what your situation, you are welcomed, accepted, loved, and encouraged to live your best life.

**Don't forget, daylight savings time starts on this day**

“Funny the way music finds you when you're a kid. It sneaks up on you. It's in the air, in the mood of the room, all around. And then, when it happens in just the right way, it can get under your skin and hang with you for just about forever.”
– Steve Aoki

“People haven't always been there for me but music always has.”

– Taylor Swift

Join Sunday Assembly Nashville on February 8 at East Park Community Center as we consider the history and heritage of music, what Longfellow called “the universal language of mankind.” Our speaker will be Royce DeGrie of the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

Our all ages program begins at 10:30 a.m. Off street parking is plentiful and free. We enjoy a potluck brunch after Assembly.

Sunday Assembly is a celebration of the one life we know we have. We want Sunday Assembly to be a place of love and compassion where, no matter what your situation, you are welcomed, accepted, loved, and encouraged to live your best life.