Lindsay's reflections on Taize

From the Café to the Countryside…

This past week I traveled to a remote part of the French Countryside to take part in a worship community called Taize. This place has been welcoming people from all over the world since late 1940’s. It is actually a community of Protestant and Catholic brothers who have committed their lives to simplicity and worship, and every week in the summer they invite 6,000 of their closest friends from all over the globe to join them in their daily routine of prayer, study, and fellowship. Most of the group consisted of youth groups, but they also open the community to adults as well.

Three times a day, the bells ring to invite everyone to prayer. All 6.000 of us would file into the church in silence, pick up a songbook, and find a place on the floor. The brothers come in and take their places, kneeling in the center front facing forward. Then the music would begin. It was the most beautiful and simple worship I’ve ever experienced. Simple songs in 14 different languages are sung 7-10 times over, interspersed with prayer, scripture, and silence.

In addition to the prayer time, there was a Bible Study time in the morning and afternoon. I was a part of a study group of 25-35 year olds. In our group of 200, there were probably only 10 Americans. The rest came from all over Europe, Africa, and South America. This larger group was broken down into small groups, and my group had people from Holland, Germany, Poland, and Estonia. It was very powerful to talk about matters of faith with people from all over the world.

It was quite a change to go from the cosmopolitan cafes of Paris to the simplicity of Taize. Let’s just say that meals consisted of a scoop of something (pasta, rice, etc), a piece of bread, and a spoon. Everything is hand washed after each meal, so extravagant utensils like forks are deemed unnecessary. But it was more than adequate, and we were never hungry.

You can read more about Taize on their website, www.taize.fr. The pictures are of worship, my small group, and the surrounding villages and countryside. I would highly recommend experiencing Taize. It was a Pentecost experience I would love to share with others.