A brother of the community has just returned from four weeks in the United States. He especially visited university campuses in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Illinois and New York, from many of which students had come to Taizé in recent years to take part in the international meetings. He spent several days making visits in the city of Milwaukee, where brothers lived for a time in the late 1980s in a poor African-American parish. Those visits culminated in a prayer held in a Presbyterian church in the center of Milwaukee, where over 300 people, both longtime friends of the community and many young people took part.
From New Jersey to Taizé
“With excitement and some trepidation, the delegation of 42 pilgrims from the Greater New Jersey Conference stirred from home with sites set on the ecumenical Christian Community of Taizé, France.
Taizé might be most familiar to United Methodists through its chants, five of which are in the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal, and 10, in The Faith We Sing hymnal supplement. Yet Taizé is so much more than just its music.
During the week at Taizé, the 42 pilgrims forming the GNJ delegation found their place among 5,000 – all a part of the global church, representing the Body of Christ from every continent and from 69 nations. Together, brothers and sisters in Christ, they enjoyed working together, having meals together, having Bible study together, and, most impressively, worshipping God together.
One of the profound glimpses of how the Holy Spirit was working in people’s lives from the GNJAC delegation was to see their responses to some of the following questions. Here are a few quotes from the youth and adults from our conference when asked: “What impressed you about the worship at Taizé?”
“Silence that allows the Holy Spirit to tailor his message to the individual.”
“ The songs sung during the worship stay with you all day. Wherever you walk, someone is singing or humming a chant. The songs penetrate so deeply.”
“Consistency, God-focused worship, silence, simplicity, beauty, inclusive, music fervor.”
“There was no place for announcements or talking. God was the center, the only focus. Worship was never used as a means of conveying logical concerns…”
“The fact that I could go to church three times a day, seven days in a row, and NOT be bored.”
“The simple, repeating chorus of each song touched my heart. As we repeated the songs, I moved further away from thinking of me, and closer to the presence of God.”
“The worship leader was God.”
“It’s simplicity and authenticity. Like a wave in the ocean, it just moves you along with it.”
“Silence.”
“I loved how you never knew what language to expect next during the service, and found the ten minutes of silence very helpful to me.”
Rev Jeff Markay, in “Relay” October 2007
