Copy of Taizé | Daily Worship at WTS

Chapel at Western Theological Seminary

Taizé Worship

Taizé worship is a service of scripture, prayer, and meditative singing, modeled on the worship of the ecumenical community in Taizé, France. Contemplative. Space for pause and silence. Space to remember your breath. Softness and candles. In these services we practice the words of Psalm 46.10: “Be still and know that I am God”; we set down at the cross our own burdens and those of others, and we listen for what the Spirit might be saying to us.

Structure

Example

Video

Templates / Sample services

Template(s) - Arranged by liturgical seasonal. What season is my service in? (hyperlink to Cherri’s calendar)
- DOC templates: for bulletins and/or participants bulletins.
- PPTs templates: for PPTs.

NOTE: These are guides. They give a sense of the potential structure of the service. They have liturgy appropriate for the liturgical season. You are not bound to these. If you have your own alternative idea or adaptation, go for it!

- - - Ordinary Time - DOC / PPT
    - Advent - DOC / PPT
    - Epiphany - DOC / PPT
    - Lent - DOC / PPT
    - Easter - DOC / PPT

Taizé Resources

The Preparation Process

1. Connect with These People:

A chapel steward will help you get practical details solidified - musicians, music, PPT/bulletin, etc. They are excellent brainstorming buddies. One will be assigned to you.
A faculty advisor will help you read scripture in community and begin planning the service. Cherri and your chapel steward can advise which of THIS LIST (pop-up list) can best help you.
Cherri, the wizard behind all the official details: helps you choose a faculty advisor, collects copyright info, does the final edit of PPTs and bulletins, prints bulletins, etc.
Still have questions? Ask Ron Rienstra or Cherri Westhouse.

2. Resources:

Prayers
- ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY
- THEN RESOURCES
- THEN GUIDELINES
- (a guiding sentence about what sort of prayer this is?) Prayer in a Taize service is typically petition, praise, or listening.
- “Nothing is more conducive to a communion with the living God than a meditative common prayer with, as its high point, singing that never ends and that continues in the silence of one’s heart when one is alone again.” (5, Songs & Prayers from Taize)
- Write your own, invite others to write their own, or peruse these examples (hyperlink).
- http://www.taize.fr/en_article337.html (the Taize community’s own guide for creating a prayer service)
- Book in Ron’s office: Praise God: Common Prayer at Taize, Songs & Prayers from Taize
- Silence can be prayer, too.
Environment
- It is helpful in a Taize service to create a prayerful physical space. Some suggestions: Subdued lighting. Candles (ask Cherri or the stewards about this). Space for people to sit or kneel on the floor. Fewer chairs.
- Make sure you tell David Becker (email hyperlink) about how you want the chapel arranged.
Taize music -
- ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY, RESOURCES< GUIDELINES
- Where do I find Taize music? In Ron’s office (Ron is happy to help search). In the Worship Resource Center in the library. In the links below.
- http://www.taize.fr/en_article10308.html (list of Taize songs)
- http://www.taize.fr/en_article338.html (on meditative singing)
- YouTube playlist (hyperlink)
- Books in Ron’s office:
- NOTE: WTS has copyright licenses that allow us to use certain songs in worship. In order to abide by copyright law we need to report our use of copyrighted songs. It is YOUR responsibility to get this squared away with Cherri.
- All Taizé songs should contain the following copyright notice:
- EXAMPLE COPYRIGHT NOTICE.
- For more on copyright, LINK.
Musicians and Other Participants
- Our community is full of musicians (and prayers and readers and writers, etc) who would love to join you in leading worship. Our Western’s Got Talent (hyperlink) spreadsheet gives a sense of who’s willing and able to help.

To Do:
- Four Weeks Before Your Chapel:
  - Pray.
  - Read lectionary texts for your day on the chapel schedule (hyperlink).
    - Choose one or several texts to guide the service. Or choose another text not from the lectionary. Psalms are often a good choice for this type of service.
  - Identify a theme from the texts to help the community pray well.
  - Begin brainstorming the service. Now is the time to start looking at templates.
  - Choose a faculty advisor.
    - Contact Cherri (email hyperlink). She’ll help you make the decision. She also needs to know which advisor you end up with for her records.
  - Make appointments with your faculty advisor.
    - You need 3 meetings with your advisor prior to your service: 3 weeks out. 2 weeks out. 1 week out (or within the week of your service).
    - You are encouraged to meet TOGETHER with your faculty advisor and your chapel steward.
- Three Weeks Before Your Chapel:
  - Pray.
  - Read your text.
  - Meet with your faculty advisor. Brainstorm with regard to service theme and order of worship.
    - NOTE: The bulletin templates are very handy tools to use for drafts of your service.
  - A chapel steward should have connected with you at this point. If they haven’t, talk to Cherri or Ron. If you’re hoping to work with someone in particular, connect with them early.
- Two Weeks Before Your Chapel:
  - Pray.
  - Read your text.
  - Meet with your faculty advisor. Check in. Address issues and questions.
  - Make decisions about prayers, liturgies, etc.
  - Pick songs that fit. Ask Ron or your chapel steward for music files to put in your bulletin or PPT. (This takes some time, so don’t delay).
  - Recruit others to help you lead - musicians, readers, gesturers, etc.
- One Week Before Your Chapel (or early the week of your chapel):
  - Pray.
  - Read your text.
  - Meet with your faculty advisor. Finalize decisions.
  - Your Steward will be especially helpful in these final steps:
    - Make a final draft of the service.
      - Make a bulletin or PPT. (Pick one. You don’t need to have both.)
      - Make a participants bulletin (an outline of the service that acts as a guide for musicians and other leaders participating in your service. It is recommended to use the bulletin templates for this.)
    - Get copies of the music for your musicians.
    - Arrange for a rehearsal for your musicians (and whoever else might need a runthrough of their role in the service). Make sure no one has to skip class to rehearse.
    - Take care of copyright (hyperlink) matters.
    - Find out who the chapel host (a.k.a. “tech person”) is for your service (hyperlink). Email them to tell them how many microphones you’ll need (for speakers and musicians), if you’re using PPT, and any special tech needs you might have.
  - Email David Becker (email hyperlink) about how you want the chapel set up.
- Two Days Before:
  - Pray.
  - Read your text.
  - Send your final PPT/bulletin and participants bulletin to Cherri. She will proofread. Then she will make copies of the bulletin or send the PPT to the chapel host.
- The Big Day - Your Chapel Service:
  - Pray (or ask someone to pray with and for you before the service).
  - Arrive early to make sure everything is set up as you need it to be. Make sure your fellow leaders are good to go. Connect with your chapel host.
- After Your Service:
  - Make sure the chapel is clean (take care of stray bulletins, etc).
    - Music can be placed in the sacristy on the counter.
  - Fill out the chapel evaluation form (hyperlink). THIS HAS TO BE RE-DONE, RON
  - Meet with your faculty evaluator. Ask Cherri who you’ve been assigned. (Bring your eval and a copy of your bulletin/participants bulletin.)
  - Send thank you notes to your participants.