Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly . . .
and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
Col. 3:16
Our Lenten journey will include a Taizé-style service on Wednesday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Chapel. It will include Holy Communion, anointing with oil, and Taizé singing and last about an hour. Child care will be provided.

What is Taizé? It refers to a style of prayer-in-song that arose out of an ecumenical, international Christian community located in Taizé, France
– a village in the south of Burgandy. The community was begun in this village by Brother Roger in 1940 and is today made up of over 100 brothers from 25 countries from various Catholic and Protestant backgrounds. The brothers are committed for their whole life to material and spiritual sharing, to celibacy, and to a great simplicity of life. At the heart of daily life in Taizé are three times of prayer together.

Every week from early spring to late autumn, young adults from different continents arrive on the hill of Taizé as a pilgrimage that encourages them
to deepen their experience of God and build relationships of trust among human beings. Some weeks in the summer months, more than 5,000 young people from 75 different countries thus take part in a common adventure.

And this adventure continues when they return home. It is expressed in their concern to deepen an inner life and by their readiness to take on responsibilities in order to make the world a better place to live in. (For more information, visit their website at www.taize.fr/en.)

One of the key features of Taizé worship is a form of repetitive singing based on a phrase of scripture. The words and tune are easy to learn so that one may simply enter this experience of prayer without juggling a hymn book. It is a spiritual practice that allows us to hear God as we let the phrase of scripture sink into our soul. It is a spiritual practiced that quiets our fretting hearts and distracted minds so that we experience the presence of God and come to know our true selves. In other words, this kind of worship is a means of God’s grace. It is a way we can reach out and receive the grace God offers us.

As we have been focusing on the secrets of our lives, this service will be an opportunity to continue to lay before God areas of our lives where we are longing to be authentic, where we long to be free from the things that enslave us, the things for which we feel guilty or shamed. Many things that bind us are not due to things we have consciously done but spring from wounds that need God’s healing touch.

Thus, this particular service will include the celebration of Holy Communion and anointing with oil. What is anointing with oil? Anointing with oil is an ancient Christian practice for healing. James 5:14 says: “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pay over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.”

We use olive oil as a connection to the ancient practice in the Holy Land.
(Olive oil was used for healing purposes and also to consecrate prophets, ordain priests, and crown kings). We make the sign of the cross on your forehead and say something like “I anoint you with oil in the name of Jesus the Christ, our savior and healer.” We often then lay a hand on your head or shoulder and say a prayer of healing – either general or in response to a specific request you might make.

I encourage you to participate in this service as part of your own journey of following Jesus to the cross this season. You may simply sit in the pew the entire service. No one is compelled to participate in Communion or Anointing.

If you haven’t yet submitted the 5×7 card to participate in our community art project, I encourage you to do so. (Supplies are available on the information table in the church lobby.) Submissions are anonymous but will be posted on the sanctuary wall. Take time to walk around the sanctuary and read what some of your brothers and sisters have said. Pray for them in their struggles, dilemmas, questions, searching, and yearning.

It is a little scary but also incredibly freeing to lay out your life before God in this way. May you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ this season.

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,

Debra