For the next two weeks I will be in France and the UK. The first week will be spent in France,
mostly in the village of Taize, which is a wonderful community of Christian
Brothers who live in residence and work for reconciliation among peoples. Every week in the summer several
thousand young people ages 16 to 24 come from all around the world to enter
into the spiritual rhythms of the Taize community. The schedule revolves around three daily offices of prayer. The prayer times are approximately an
hour in length and include Scripture readings, singing several repetitive and
beautifully harmonious songs (usually scripture phrases), verbal prayers and a
significant period of
silence. The
Scriptures and Prayers are spoken in a variety of languages representing many
of the countries represented. This
will be my third visit. I brought
ten fellow pilgrims with me on the first two trips. This time Vicki finally makes it to Taize, along with our
daughter Jessica and son-in-law Micah Thomas who also serves as the Director of
our Youthfront Camp South. We
employ many similar values and practices (for our context) at Youthfront Camp
South and West that exist at Taize. We know
we can’t duplicate what has happened at Taize but Taize has had a significant
impact on Youthfront Camp South. I’m
excited about my three fellow pilgrims having the Taize experience.
Week number two will be spent in the UK. We will be attending the Greenbelt
Festival. We will be there with a
group of friends whom I serve with on the Wild Goose Board.
The Wild Goose is a North American
expression of The Greenbelt Festival.
Of course it will have its own identity but the Greenbelt team has been
very helpful and supportive of our initiative. The first Wild Goose Festival will happen next June. More details coming soon…
officially jealous. so want to make a pilgrimage to Taize'
Posted by: Gavin Richardson | August 22, 2010 at 12:01 AM