SWISS QUAKERS

David Sunderland invited us to sing two Taizé songs and told of his experience there. Others who had also been to Taizé shared their experience as well.

The Taizé Community in Eastern France is known for its distinctive worship involving a mix of repetitive chants, Gospel readings (in different languages), and periods of silence.  I went on a retreat in Taizé last summer.  The SD session created a Taizé-style worship between 18h30-19h00 on Wednesday – with a reading of 1:13 Corinthians in English and French, silence, and sharing of two Taizé songs (with links to the YouTube versions): Bless the Lord my soul and Mon âme se repose.

To start the discussion off, I talked about my experience at Taizé.  Accommodation and meals are simple, with three church services a day.  Large group sessions were led by a Taizé monk that involved study of a bible passage each day, further elaborated in a small group session where the seven of us got to know each other well.  There was also plenty of time for discussion and reflection (a small number of visitors undertook to be silent their entire stay).

After my introduction, others who had been on retreats at Taizé shared their experience and a discussion responded to questions.  A dominant theme was how we could encourage greater use of song in our meetings for worship and activities.

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