Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I'm checking out a meetup. group with regular events coffee shops and restaurants. Also found a Facebook group for some scheduled and impromptu get togethers!

Go for it.

There are two UU congregations near me but -- they seemed full of people that felt dogmatic in other ways (extreme left views and drug use, tie dyed everything.

The congregations were almost all white, and not very welcoming to strangers. Every organization seems to have their cliques and leadership circles. My tendency when I join a group is to end up running things (my compulsion) but I hate committees and so I've largely given up. I like sleeping on Sundays and walking in the Church of Mother Nature.

I wish we had one of those local to me here in Ohio. I'm a firm non-believer, but I've always envied the automatic community that comes with being a believer.

If there's one in plausible striking distance then try it out. You can stand anything for an hour. If you don't like it, don't go back.

I would imagine it's rather like a UU or Quaker congregation where community is emphasized over dogma, and where dogma is near-nonexistent and non-formalized. And where, in my experience, the smarmy, cliquish aspect is simply based on something other than religious dogma (politics or some unstated but all-to-real group ethos).

I got to a local atheist group and it is NOT run by polyamorous people. It's a nice group of people and it's nice to have conversations without having to filter out comments that might offend religious people. We meet in free places.

I attended the Sunday Assembly that lasted here for less than a year. I only went a few times as it was too churchy for me. They had some not terribly good speakers and musicians and needed too much money to pay to rent their room.

I belong to a skeptics group in the Bay Area. We meet once a month and discuss all kinds of things. Especially those to do with the ridiculous new age stuff woo woo I call it, and what's going on in the world. As well as scientology and the crazy conspiracy theories.
For more community, I started a women's group. Men and friends and other family members might attend a movie with us. Religion hasn't come up, but some of the women are into herbal remedy. I discourage everything to do with religion and any cures not based on science. I don't want it to become a group of old women moaning about physical problems.
What I encourage is talk about good books and movies and gardening. I'm also hoping we can do some museums. We saw RBG together at my suggestion and everyone loved it. A couple of the women are Martha Stewart fans and to me the fancy house and fancy cooking stuff is a waste of time. But so what if it makes them happy. Maybe they will be influenced to more intellectual thinking, but I won't bet on it.
Also I've been trying to get some interest going for helping the homeless. The wealthiest woman seems afraid of the homeless. One other and I are going for it. Also encouraging them to help get out the vote is on my list.
Try groups or start one and you might educate some people.
After all people are people. The main distraction from serious thought in this country is material stuff, you know the money obsession. Our big baby leader isn't helping with that.

Why would an atheist want to go to church?

I avoid all rules, meetings, attendance requirements, etc.
On my days off, I want to be out birding in the brush, not sitting around discussing dry, intellectual topics.

Try a Unitarian fellowship, but shop around some are more churchy than others. There is no dogma to believe in, just all kinds of ex catholic, Jews, protestant and unbelievers

I often think about church's role in providing a sense of community to its members and how many members put up with or pretend to go along with the dogma so that they have that community. Everything that churches offer and what "spirituality" offer can be replicated and improved in a secular fashion. A non believer church is really a community center to replace the feeling of community. To replace spirituality that some feel, then there would have to be some deeper discussion; probably philosophy would suffice. So maybe an Epicurian garden would be perfect.

Yes, I went to a Sunday Assembly but it was fairly unorganized and fell out. I’ve also gone to the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (BUUF). 40% of its members identify as atheist. The idea of it is any religion or no religion is okay. There are some weird pagan rituals that they did and it was still super religious. I went to a winter solace one that had some stuff like lighting candles and releasing anger or whatnot. It got super long and I got my phone out. Then I got scolded. If I’m going to suffer through a service (and sometimes I do feel the need because I was super religious), it is going to be a religion that I am already familiar with. Plus in a REAL church, most of the people are on their phones and I am not out of place.

So you meet there and talk about nothing? I can do that.

I was invited to attend Rotary a few years ago. Silly songs, uplifting rhetoric, and then came the economics and politics. Not for me, thanks.

Call it a group not a church and I could be interested. I think it’s unlikely to be emotional, most nontheists in my experience are much less emotional than those who believe in god because we are more rational. There are already Humanist groups around and they can conduct marriage and funeral ceremonies in some countries.

No, nor do I plan to. Do you have to learn silly songs, compare clothing, and listen to important sounding dead languages? Asking for a friend.

I've been to a few Sunday Assemblies. The ones around here are definitely not overly intellectual. They try to provide members with the inspiration and joyfulness that many churches provide but keeping an atheist foundation. They like to sing inspiring songs.

I'm not into that. I prefer the intellectual stimulation my Atheist Community and Humanist community meetings provide. They have thought provoking lectures about social justice, morality and science.

I suggest you try the different communities and see what fits you.

Intellectual sounds good to me. I would go and see what it's like. It might be great