What is Taizé?

        On Wednesday, March 16th, we at the Mount Carmel Congregational Church will be holding our first Lenten Taizé service of the year. These services, based off those held at the Taizé monastery in the Burgundy region of southern France, will be conducted on Wednesday evenings leading up to Easter. Taizé services are held by candlelight and involve a mixture of song, chanted prayer, and long durations of silence. By utilizing repeated phrases from scripture as a focus for meditation, the services of Taizé provide “the freedom and space to hear God’s voice” (Youngman 5). The combination of these important factors leads to a unique worship experience far removed from the usual Sunday morning gathering.

        Since 1940, the spirit of Taizé and its founder, Brother Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche, has attracted the attention of Christians from across the world to cast aside their differences and gather in worship as one united Christian Church. In Taizé worship, we are no longer Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, or Orthodox; instead, we are simply people “seeking the space---external and internal---in which to meet God” (Youngman 5).
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        If you would like to participate in this unique worship experience, please join us on March 16th, March 23rd, March 30th, April 6th, and April 13th at 7pm in the Church, or pick up a copy of Worship Feast: 20 Complete Services in the Spirit of Taizé by Abingdon Press. For a brief history of Taizé and its founder, Brother Roger, we suggest that you visit BBC’s web article located here.
 
 

Youngman, J. (2004). Spirit of Taizé. In Worship Feast: 20 Complete Services in the Spirit of Taizé (pp. 5).
Essay, Abingdon Press.