For the past 10 years, I have been interested in Taizé. If you have never heard of Taizé you are missing out. What is Taizé? Well, that is a long story. The short story is that Taizé is a small village in France where Brother Roger founded an ecumenical Christian community of prayer, song, study, service, reflection, worship, and solitude for young people over 70 years ago. The community was founded as a protestant community and not a Catholic organization. Taizé music and worship is simplistic but deeply spiritual. You most likely have heard a song or sung a Taizé song in church and never realized it.
For the past few weeks, I have enjoyed reading A Community Called Taizé by Jason Brian Santos. Santos covers his experience with Taizé and pens about the greater spiritual community of Taizé, France. The book begins with the grim death of the community’s founder, Brother Roger, but quickly moves into describing the whole experience of visiting Taizé. As the reader walks with Santos, you immediately get the feeling that you would have similar reactions coming the Taizé community. Having visited France in 1998, I can tell you that the feeling of culture shock is real and alarming: new food, new places, new language, new surroundings, new culture, new customs, and new… well, just about everything. Santos continues into the who, what, where, why, and how of the community.
As I am learning more about the community of Taizé, I am also listening to the music. The music and worship of Taizé is powerful. Why? Here are the 5 most powerful aspects of Taizé that you are missing out on:
