The Secular Coalition for Massachusetts

Despite the fact that there are tens of millions of nontheistic Americans, we remain one of the most marginalized groups in the country.  The Secular Coalition for America is working to make sure that we are heard on Capitol Hill. We fight in Washington DC against religious privileging on a federal level, yet some of the most egregious violations of separation of church and state are being promoted and passed at a state level. We need your help to see real change in Boston and across Massachusetts.

The Secular Coalition for America is forming state chapters across the country. Our chapters will bring together secular Americans in each state to influence government officials, legislation, and regulations. A Secular Coalition for America state chapter is unlike any other nontheistic state organization—it brings together interested organizations and individuals for the exclusive purpose of lobbying government officials.

A statement from the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts following the tragic events of the Boston Marathon explosions

Boston secular groups join community response to tragedy

Local groups urge nontheist inclusion in interfaith response 

Meet the Secular Coalition for Massachusetts Co-Chairs:

Ellery Schempp, 72
Medford, Massachusetts

Ellery Schempp, is a long-standing advocate of separation of church and state. Schempp’s quiet protest (1956) objecting to "Morning Devotions" in his high school resulted in the Supreme Court decision that ended government enforced Bible-readings and prayers in public schools  [1963, Abington v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett]. Ellery grew up in Roslyn, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He received a B.S. degree from Tufts University (1962) and a Ph.D. from Brown University (1968).  His career in academia and research included times in Pittsburgh, California, Switzerland, and New Zealand.  He currently lives in Medford, Massachusetts. An atheist, humanist, and member of a Unitarian-Universalist church, Ellery is looking to expand outreach from the nontheist community to include underrepresented groups including Unitarians, Jewish congregations, and the Asian-American population.

Zachary Bos, 30
Lunenburg, MA

Zachary Bos has been an active member of the secular movement for nearly a decade, coordinating regional travel to conferences; organizing letter-writing campaigns; participating behind the scenes at national conventions; making dozens of media appearances; lending his design and communications expertise to groups including Camp Quest New England, the National Atheist Party, the Ethical Society of Boston, and the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard; and overseeing the growth of the Boston Atheists as the largest secular group in New England. He has worked with magazines and enterprises devoted to creative writing and literary translation for over a decade, and studied poetry at Boston University with Robert Pinsky and Louise Glück. He runs an independent press, Pen and Anvil, and lives in Lunenburg, MA, with a cat, a dog, and his family. He has been the State Director for American Atheists since 2008, and identifies as an atheist and a Humanist.

View Press Release Announcing Chapter Formation

To participate, call (530) 881-1400 on the date and time scheduled for your state’s conference call and enter the participant code 978895. Feel free to call in just to listen. 

Don't forget to check out and like this chapter's Facebook page to meet other members of the community! 

If you have any questions about state chapter details or organization, check out our FAQs or email us at Massachusetts@secular.org.

If you're interested in receiving emails about your state's chapter, check out our signup page.