Christmas greetings from the Taizé Atlanta prayer community! We miss gathering with you to sing and pray… Hopefully we will be able to gather in some form of in-person prayer in the next few months!

We wanted you to be sure to know about this year’s Taizé European Meeting which will take place online from December 27-January 1. All have the chance to participate by tuning in online to pray and hear reflections.  It will be a time to have your hope renewed!

The theme this year is, “Hoping in season and out of season.”  In addition to daily prayer and Bible reflection, there will be streamed workshops on issues of migration, violence, cooperation, and many other themes. You will hear voices of people from around the globe sharing their experiences, their work and their hope. Many more details about the workshops and prayers can be found on the Taize Community’s Facebook page as well as their website. Please check them both out.

The daily program for the meeting is listed on this page. All the listed events will accessible on Youtube here each day. 

You can download and print this song booklet so that you can sing along with the prayers.

The European Meeting happens each year in different major cities. This year it was supposed to happen in Turin, Italy but had to be postponed. Instead this online meeting will give many a chance to taste the hope-filled gathering of young adults from around the world. It will be a rich and nourishing medicine to close out this year and head into 2021. We hope you can partake!

Don’t forget to check out Taizé Atlanta’s Facebook page for local updates.

Sending Christmas Blessings and prayers to you all!

This year, Chantlanta invited us to offer a one hour workshop as part of their chant weekend in Virginia Highlands. We are presenting on Sunday, March 15, 2020 from 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM. We would love to see you there! During our workshop we (Lisa Persons and Soyini Coke) will give a brief story about the Taize Community and their work of reconciliation around the world. Our team of musicians (Charles Absher and Chris Palmer) will lead us in chants, sacred reading and brief silence.

We look forward to sharing this tradition to lovers of chant who will be new to the Taizé form of prayer. We’d love to have the support of regulars!

The weekend is full of various chant offerings in different traditions. You register by individual workshop. To join our workshop, look for us and register here:
https://www.chantlanta.org/workshops

All Proceeds from workshop reservations go directly to ChantLanta’s charity partner: http://www.thelearningtea.com

Hope you can come! Write us if you have any questions.

Photo is of Br. John and Br. Emile of Taize at the tomb of MLK, Jr.

We had a wonderful week of prayer and conversations with Br. John and Br. Emile in early October. So grateful for everyone who came out and traveled the pilgrimage road to new places in our city. People came from North Carolina, South Georgia and Tennessee. What a hopeful time of prayer and blessing.

The brothers came to support those who have been gathering for prayer in our city over the past 25 years and to broaden and deepen our connections with one another and with the greater work of the Taizé Community in their efforts to build peace and reconciliation around the world. 

We had three great evenings of prayer and conversation on themes of Pilgrimage, Trust and Hospitality at Central Pres, the Cathedral of St. Philip and St. Thomas More. A bit of excitement was an 11th hour power outage at St. Thomas More. Many thanks to First Christian Church – just down the street – to opening their doors and making it work! A truly ecumenical effort.

During the day, the brothers visited places of hope and met people of hope. They led a bible study at Covenant House Atlanta with homeless youth, and visited Memorial Drive Ministries, learning about a phenomenal and creative partnership in Clarkston between a church and several non-profits seeking to help refugees and immigrants. They met with young adults doing service and study and one evening had dinner with the L’Ache Atlanta community. They also made contacts with young orthodox and priests in the city for a pan-orthodox national gathering.

They made their own pilgrimage to the King Center and Martin Luther King, Jr’s tomb. Finally, on Saturday morning they led a small workshop with alumni of the Youth Theology Initiative and Candler students and staff. 

We are encouraging people to consider making their own pilgrimage to Taizé in France! A visit is a wonderful, faith-renewing experience during which you meet the world in one place and immerse yourself in the beauty of the Christian faith lived in a parable of communion. 

If you took any photos during this weeks events – please message this page. We would love a couple of pictures of the prayer spaces. 

blessings all,
Lisa and Co.

Alert! Tonight the prayer had to be moved due to a power outage to the church. It will be just down the street from St. Thomas More at:

First Christian Church of Decatur.
601 W Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur, Georgia 30030

Please park on the street, or at the post office or up at St. Thomas More on the street. There will be people with signs.

We will allow extra time for people to find their way.

Thank you for your patience! This space will be even better for our prayer!

Join two brothers from the ecumenical Taizé Community for evenings of prayer and reflection about building hope and reconciliation in the human family. 

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Central Presbyterian Church, Rand Chapel

7:30 P.M. – Taizé Prayer Service followed by welcome of Br. John and Br. Émile

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip

7:00 P.M. – Conversation in the Gould Room: “Taizé and Hospitality”

8:00 P.M. – Taizé Prayer Service, Mikell Chapel

Thursday, October 3, 2019

St. Thomas More Catholic Church

7:00 P.M.  – Conversation in the main church: “Pilgrimage and Building Trust”

8:00 P.M.  – Taizé Prayer Service

For reflection, we will be using the Taizé 2019 pamphlet on hospitality.

For more event info: www.taizeatlanta.me. Questions? Contact: Lisa Persons.

Not familiar with the Taizé Community in France? Explore: www.taize.fr.

“The pilgrimage of trust is first of all a meeting; with the Risen Christ and with others. Thanks to the times of prayer together, we make ourselves available for God. Through sharing and hospitality, everyone agrees to overcome barriers and differences in order to welcome and enrich one another.”

All are welcome!

Two brothers, Br. John and Br. Émile, will visit us for a few days the first week of October 2019. They will come for a few prayers and meetings with people in Atlanta and we look forward to having a small Pilgrimage of Trust involving three churches. The brothers travel in the US for certain parts of the year, having prayers and retreats with young adults and churches in different parts of the country. They have not been to Atlanta in many years and we look forward to welcoming them! Please see the website for more details here.

Brother Émile

Brother John

Due to Hurricane Irma and the official “State of Emergency” in the state of Georgia with it’s expected tropical storm force winds Monday night, we will be staying home and staying safe. Keep all those in your prayers who are experiencing the stress of this storm.

If you wish to listen to podcasts of recent prayers in Taizé you can scroll down and find them on the Taizé website here.

Here is a prayer from Br. Alois, Prior of Taizé:

You bless us, Lord Christ, us and those you entrust to us. Keep us in the spirit of the beatitudes: joy, simplicity, and merciful love.

Soyini recently traveled for a week in Taizé and has the following words:

I have just come back from a truly magical week in Taize. I’d encourage anyone who has been attending services to go to the community and see how it all started and witness the amazing work the brothers continue to do.

For anyone who is interested, I’m planning to go to the pilgrimage of trust in St. Louis. Let’s organize! 

You can contact us through this site or the Facebook page if you are interested in going.