Join us for a monthly Taizé Prayer Service with First Pres Ann Arbor, now held virtually.

What is a Taizé Service?

This style of worship was developed at Taizé, a monastic community located in Taizé, France, founded in the 1940’s by a Swiss named Roger Louis Schütz-Marsauche or Brother Roger. The “brothers” of the community have taken a vow of celibacy and are committed to a lifetime of simplicity, service, and community. There is an ecumenical emphasis at Taizé, which says the community “wants its life to be a sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and between separated peoples.”

A Taizé worship service involves sung and chanted prayers, meditation, a period of silence, liturgical readings, and icons. There is no preaching. The style of prayer practiced at Taizé has attracted many worshipers from around the globe and from many different denominations. The prayers consist of “short chants, repeated again and again,” according to an introduction in a Taizé songbook. “The words are sung over many times.”

Taizé Services have been a practice of worshipping here at First Pres on Ash Wednesday. All are welcome!