“Taize”

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Joshua 1:8
 
From October 2-15 I will be away on my annual study leave. Cathy will be coming with me. We will first fly to Geneva, Switzerland to see the locations of famous events of the Reformation, such as the church where John Calvin preached and the church where John Knox preached. Then we will travel to Taize, France for a retreat at the monastery where the Taize Christian Community lives.
 
Taize is famous for its meditative singing. This type of worship enables people to meditate on God’s Word by singing verses of Scripture. There are three worship services every day and we are looking forward to participating in them during our weeklong stay. Those who participated in the Ash Wednesday service at GMPC this year will remember that we sang some of the songs from Taize.
 
The Taizé Christian Community was founded by Roger Schutz, who was known as Brother Roger. He was a Presbyterian from Switzerland who journeyed to France in 1940 at the start of WW2. He rode a bicycle from Geneva to the small town of Taizé which is still surrounded by rolling green hills and dairy farms. Since the town was located in unoccupied France, he bought an empty house and hid Christian and Jewish refugees there.
 
On November 11, 1942, the Gestapo occupied Brother Roger's house while he was in Switzerland collecting funds to aid in his refuge ministry. He was not able to return to his home in Taizé until 1944, when France was liberated.
 
Brother Roger then started a quasi-monastic community of Protestants and Roman Catholics who committed themselves to serving Christ and living their lives together. Thousands of young pilgrims come to Taizé every year from all over the world to worship together, meditating on God’s word through meditative singing.
 
The Taizé Christian Community describes how meditative singing helps us to worship God:
When people come together to pray, meditative singing can help everyone to participate and to stay together in waiting on God. Using just a few words, they express a fundamental reality that can quickly be grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality can gradually sink into one’s whole being.
 
Here's a link to a YouTube video from Taizé that describes what a retreat is like there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngA8BFbjrE0
 
I’m looking forward to sharing our experiences with you when we return.

In Christ,

Pastor David