An atheist and an agnostic walked into a church… and led the service.

That’s no joke.

On July 26th, 2026, the Middle Tennessee Humanists led the service at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville (FUUN). We had a full band with two guitar players, a bassist, percussionist, and a three-part vocal ensemble. We opened the service with a Steven Phelps original “Welcome to This Place”, as well as the classic hymn “Peace Like a River”.

After the chalice was lit, Kalai, a long-standing member of MTH, gave the “Call to Worship”. He livened the room with his jokes and lighthearted banter, making everyone feel welcome!

During the offering, our band performed the offertory song. I was especially moved by their performance of “Blue Boat Home” by Peter Mayer, arranged by Steven and Georgia Phelps. It began a cappella, with a solo by Samantha, and then slowly all the other voices and instruments were mixed in. It was wonderful.

For the reading, Samantha gave a stirring poetry reading of “Call me by my true names” by Thich Nhat Hanh. The author was a Buddhist monk who lived in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. He was also a prolific writer, publishing over 100 books during his lifetime. He primarily wrote on Buddhist philosophy, but he was also a poet.

Here is an excerpt from the poem:

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

After the reading, I gave the message, titled “Universal Truth and the Ten Commitments of Humanism”, or alternatively, “What is Truth?”. It was the first time that I have publicly shared my story about leaving Evangelical Christianity and what I have learned since then.

A friend of mine in the audience sketched this picture of me giving the message:

We closed the service with the hymns “Lean on Me”, and “Imagine” by John Lennon, and then joined the congregation for social hour with cheese and crackers.

I had a FUUN time!

Here is the recording of Samantha’s poetry reading and my sermon: