CHURCH : What is Taize ?

"Taize is an ecumenical sung and silent participatory prayer service designed to achieve a contemplative state through music, song and silence."

The ecumenical community of Taizé takes it’s name from the village in France where it was founded. In 1940, a young man by the name of Roger, troubled by the Second World War, settled in Taizé to begin a new religious order. Four central values would guide their lives: forgiveness, simplicity, joy and trust.

Today the community has grown to include about a hundred brothers from 25 different countries and from different Christian backgrounds. Every year they welcome over ten thousand youth from the four corners of the earth. The youth gather in Taizé for different reasons: to meet and share with people from around the world, to find answers to their questions, to find meaning in their lives, to take time to build a relationship with a loving God or to believe in a world where people of all nations, all faiths and all languages can live in peace and harmony.

The young adults pray three times a day with the brothers, attend biblical teachings, participate in small group discussions and eat together. In their spare time, they sing, dance and meet new people. Everyone has the chance to share their story and learn a little more about others in a wide diversity of languages and cultures.