The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd and Confluence: A Center for Spirituality offer a unique time for prayer and reflection based on the worship service of the Taize Community in France the last Sunday of the month at 6 p.m.
This contemplative service of prayer, scripture, silence and chant invites us to enter the depths of our inner self where we may be still and know that God is God. Our Taizé worship goes on hiatus for the summer, and is not held on Sundays where there is a major holiday.
Our Taizé service is based on the worship of the Taizé community in France. An international, ecumenical community founded by three Lutheran monks amid the turmoil World War II, the Taizé community in Burgundy is committed to peace and reconciliation. The community is now home to 100 monks from all over the world. Hundreds of young people from around the globe flock to Taizé each week to join the monks in their prayers for the reconciliation of all people.
Each day at Taizé the bells ring out three times calling the community and visitors to prayer. Those prayers occur in quiet services of prayer, scripture, silence and chant. The worship of the Taizé community is known especially for the simple, repetitive chants of these contemplative services. Often sung in Latin, the international language, the chants, invite us to enter the depths of our being where we may be still and know the Presence of God.
At the monthly service (the fourth Sunday of each month) offered by Confluence: A Center for Spirituality and The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, the church is filled with candlelight as the rich voice of the soprano cantor calls us to prayer while the choir and piano lead us in the chants of Taizé. In the chants and the silence, we pray for God’s peace in our hearts and in the hearts of all people. We invite you to join us in those prayers.