What is Taize? And what does it mean to me?

Guest post written by Mary:

I sometimes feel like I have 3 strikes against me when I attend a Sunday morning worship service.  Strike one: I’m married to the preacher.  This means that it is a perpetual challenge to hear the sermon without filtering through many complex lenses.  Each Sunday, I have to seek to hear the message that God wants me to hear through fresh ears.  Strike two: I have 2 small children with me in worship each week.  One child is really self-sufficient and good at sitting still.  The other, not so much.  So, while other people are able give their full attention to the service and ‘be still’ before God, I often find myself shushing my 4 year old, shuffling papers, and trying to put out sibling squabbles in the pew, oblivious to the elements of worship taking place.  Strike 3: Not only do I have small children with me in worship, but I am the only one available to parent them (see Strike #1), so again, it’s easy for me to get distracted. Thankfully, God is bigger than my distractions and he is gracious enough to meet me in this season of life on Sunday mornings.

However, there is another sacred place where I’ve found a strike-free worship zone.  Our church, McLean Baptist, offers a Taize Prayer Service the first Wednesday of each month.  (Bonus: MBC also offers an amazing dinner catered by Sweet Leaf for just $6 a plate and childcare on Wednesday nights as well.)  When I first arrived at MBC, I had heard the word ‘Taize’ before, but I didn’t know how to pronounce it or what it meant.  I’ve since learned that you’ll hear it called TAY-ZAY most often.  

What does a typical service look like?  We gather in the church parlor, the lights are a little dimmed, the piano is being played.  You immediately sense a quiet and reflective mood.  Chairs are in rows and at the front is a candle-lit table, sometimes prepared for communion.  Each attendee gets a worship folder.  We begin with simple songs, singing a specific phrase or chorus through several times.  Through the repetition of the words, I become centered and the words become the prayer of my heart.   Scripture is spoken.  More simple songs are sung.  Then we enter into 10-12 minutes of silence.  Sometimes, the time seems long, the silence is loud and I find my thoughts distracted and scattered.  Other times, the Holy Spirit meets me head-on in the silence, ministers to me, and I’m moved to tears by the overwhelming presence of God.  Most times, those 10-12 minutes are the only silence I’ve experienced all week.  The silence is a discipline, but one that is inviting to me.  After the silence we have a few minutes of extemporaneous prayer.  Anyone who wants to pray can offer up a few words.  People may pray for a friend or family member who is hurting.  Someone may voice thanksgiving for a blessing.  One might voice a pray for another part of the world that needs God’s intervention or touch.  After a brief time of extemporaneous prayer, we sing another song to close the service.  The entire service is about 40-45 minutes.  The elements may change slightly in order or amount, but always consist of simple songs, scripture reading, silence, prayer, and sometimes the Lord’s supper.

For me, it’s a worshipful experience that I appreciate so much because I can be fully present.  The stillness and quiet is nourishing to me, as it offers a sacred space to simply rest in the presence of God.

Life is so busy.  And in this area of the country, people move and work at an astonishing pace.  A Taize service can be a place of refuge; offering rest, healing, and renewal.  I encourage you to give it a try, and what better time to try a service than during Advent?  I hope to see you there this Wednesday, December 3.  Come early for dinner at 5:45, or come to the parlor at 6:30 for the service.

Continuing the Journey

It has been six months since I began my journey with McLean Baptist Church and I could not have dreamed that I would feel so connected to a congregation than I do with this wonderful body of believers. 

"This church is a lot different than our other church."  Grant, my seven year old son whispered this to me as we were walking into the narthex of McLean Baptist Church for the first time as a family last March. 

I remarked back to him, "I know!  It is a little scary hu?  What is the biggest difference that you have noticed?"  Grant took my hand and thought as we continued walking, "I don't know where anything is...this church is like a maze."

Of course, Grant was right -- more theoretically than practically (although I still haven't mastered the layout of the building and I get lost on campus at least once a week) -- this place has been a maze.  It is a maze of family and friends....of ministry and missions...a history of shared joy and tragedy...of kingdom triumph and sometimes disappointing failure...a maze of love and mercy...of grace offered and grace received.

My six month plan was dedicated to "figuring out the maze" that makes up McLean Baptist Church...and while I know I have much more "maze navigating" to do, I feel so blessed to be partner in this maze with this church.

Upon my arrival, the church and I wrote a covenant that we conscecrated during my installation service.  We took the exercise very seriously and we spent a lot of time developing the exact words that matched our specific desire and vision for our journey together.  I often look at the covenent to keep the commitment and promise I made fresh in my heart and mind.  I think it would be appropriate to share a part of that document here, if only for you to begin to understand the profound and meaningful relationship I share with my church family:

Dr. Upton:  People of McLean Baptist Church, do you affirm your call to Dr. Brad Herridge as your pastor?

Congregation:  Today we affirm our call to Dr. Brad Herridge, asking him to exercise the gifts God has given him in his ministry at McLean Baptist Church.  We have hoped, prayed and worked for this day.  We thank you, God, that you have led us by your spirit.

Dr. Upton:  Do you pledge lovingly to support and care for Dr. Herridge and his family in the ministry of this church, ever keeping them in your prayers?

Congregation:  We pledge our love, our support and our prayers for Dr. Herridge and his family.

Dr. Upton:  Dr. Herridge, believing this to be in accordance with God's will, do you accept the call of this congregation to be its pastor, offering your love, support, comfort and pastoral care to all in need?

Pastor Brad Herridge:  I do.

Dr. Upton:  Having accepted this call, do you promise to execute your charge, leading this congregation in the study of the Holy Scriptures and encouraging them to have limitless vision and fresh faith?  Will you preach the Good News of Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture, encouraging your people to study, cherish, and seek to follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ?

Pastor Herridge:  I do, and I will.

Dr. Upton:  Will you endeavor to instill in the people of McLean Baptist Church a view of faith and commitment that embraces their need to be involved in Mission that advances the work of God's kingdom and reaches out to a needy world?

Pastor Herridge:  I will.

Bob Wallace:  Dr. Herridge, we, as a Search Committee commissioned by this congregation, sought to be responsive to the Holy Spirit and the needs of McLean Baptist Church.  We celebrate that God led us to you and that the church affirmed our recommendation.  As you share your gifts with us and this community, we offer our sustaining help as partners and friends.

Raymond White:  Dr. Herridge, as your colleagues we celebrate your call to be pastor of this church.  We will join with you as a team of Christ’s servants, and with God's help, we will support you and this congregation in ways that will make your ministry here both fruitful and joyful. It is our prayer that you will experience the presence of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit as you seek to be faithful to this call.

Shirley Bass:  Dr. Herridge, as we, the deacons of McLean Baptist, form a ministry team with you, we promise to support you in providing pastoral care to the members of the church.  We look forward to serving alongside you as we offer love and support for our congregants. 

Nancy Ross:  Dr. Herridge, as we use the gifts that God has given to this church through you and its members, we also pledge ourselves to work with you, sharing our own gifts to serve God’s church and to accomplish the mission that God has entrusted to us with you as our shepherd.

Sarah Hamrick:  Dr. Herridge, as we lead our children, youth, and adults in this church’s education programs, we will work together with you to help our church family grow closer to God, learn how to become better disciples of Christ, and seek to become the faces, hands, and feet of God in our community.

Ingrid Bowers:  Dr. Herridge, we promise to support your ministry with our music.  We pledge to offer our best efforts as we seek to inspire our congregation and bring glory to God.

Stan Skocki: Dr. Herridge, as we seek to live as Jesus did by serving others through missions in our community, nation, and the world, we look forward to working with you, praying with you, and listening and responding to God’s call to help others.

Youth:  Dr. Herridge, we are the youth of McLean Baptist Church.  We look forward to getting to know you and your family and having you and your family get to know our families.  We’re excited about the future of our church and the memories we will make together.

Children:  Dr. Herridge, we are the children of our church family.  We would like you to be our friend, and we want to have fun with you and learn from you.

Congregation:  God has called us all to share in the joy of his kingdom through worship, prayer and fellowship.  We need the help and support of each other.  Although we each have different gifts, we join together to bear witness to the transforming power of God, believing that in Christ we are all one.  Today we celebrate that unity, that goal of building up God's church, that opportunity to be ambassadors of God's spirit in the world.  Dr. Herridge, we praise God that you have been called to this congregation.  We will strive to support the leadership you offer as we grow together in the family of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Herridge:  I have sensed a strong calling from God to minister in this place at this time.  I am grateful to God for leading me here, and I am grateful to the congregation for the kindness that has been shown to me.  I commit myself to serving as your pastor with humility and integrity.  I look forward to walking with you on our journey together, mourning with one another in our sorrows, celebrating with each other in our joys and growing together in favor with God.  It is with a happy spirit and a humble heart that I stand before you.  Let us together re-commit to offer ourselves to the Lord and to each other.  Let us offer our understandings and insights, so that we and others may be challenged and changed.  Our emotions and experiences, so that through honesty and openness we may find and give encouragement & comfort. Let us offer our skills and talents, so that in joyful recognition and sharing we can see the overflowing love God has for us. Let us celebrate and offer our common humanity, the very fabric of our lives, so that people can find the God of love here, the Creator God, who’s made us all unique, precious and loved.  Let us offer our very lives together so that the Lord can take them and spend them for the life of the world.  Amen.

Dr. Upton:  Having heard the promises made today, I charge you to work together, to pray together, to witness together and to play together, and may the love of Christ bind you together in fellowship with God.

Pastor Herridge and Congregation:  Hear our prayer, O Lord, as we now dedicate ourselves afresh to you and the work of the Gospel through this, your church.  Help us to become the people you want us to be and to do the things you want us to do.  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen.

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When Goodbye Is Not Good Enough

A preface:  As I have done on two occasions, below is a blog post written by my wife.  As usual, she puts in words what we are feeling in our hearts.  There is only one thing I would add to her post -- I think we both share a sense of excitement for the future.  McLean Baptist Church is Spirit-filled and Kingdom driven...it is overflowing with laypeople who are dripping with God's love and grace and it has been led by amazing servants of God for generations.  With the above understanding, Mary's words:


The past few months have been full of goodbyes.  After 10 years of being at Bosqueville Baptist Church, Brad accepted a position at McLean Baptist Church in McLean, Virginia.  Because my default is to avoid emotional complexities, I’ve survived the last couple of weeks by staying busy, which hasn’t been difficult considering the lengthy to-do list associated with a cross-country move.  The truth is that goodbyes are the worst and it’s just too painful to allow myself to feel all of them. 

The decision process to accept the invitation to McLean was so complex and so simple all at the same time.  Over the last couple of years Brad and I have prayed that we would be open to God’s leading in our lives, regardless of the timing or the location.  And all along we would have been content if the answer had been: BBC is the location and forever is the timing.  But, something in our spirits seemed to be whispering that there was a different answer.  And when it came, it felt easy to make the decision, and hard too, because we knew that to embrace a new life and a new congregation meant to let go of the one that had held us for so long. 

So, the past month has been full of goodbyes and I’ve realized the gross inadequacy of human words.  Because thank you and goodbye have kept rolling off my lips and each time, they smack of insufficiency and yet when I think about how to express what I really feel, I struggle in vain to come up with words that are worthy.

Is this even close to saying thanks?

Thank you BBC, for accepting us, as our 25 year old selves and not looking back.  We knew so little, but you were so kind and your graciousness was a covering over us.  Thank you for giving us the freedom to be ourselves and to find a bit of ourselves, too. 

Thank you for teaching us through your lives and your love.   So many faith lessons…I’ve learned through single moms about sacrifice and courage.  I’ve learned through Sunday School and AWANA leaders about endurance, patience and gentleness.  The youth have taught me that faith is not a destination but a constant journey.  The children have modeled authenticity to me as I've heard their small voices rising unfiltered to God in prayer, week after week during worship services.  I’ve learned countless lessons from the wisdom of the older generation; they’ve modeled a life worth striving after; they’ve given me an answer to the question of who I want to be when I grow up.  I’ve learned from the daring about risky faith and the struggles and rewards that come from passionately pursuing a vision from God.  I’ve learned from the heartbroken about what resilience and hope look like.  I’ve watched people serve unnoticed but faithfully, year after year, at a specific task or ministry – and they’ve unknowingly taught me humility and selflessness.  The misfits, those on the fringe, they’ve taught me that we all have our own story with God, that faith has many different colors and dimensions, which add to its beauty.  So many faith lessons...

At the end of the day, even more, at the end of 10 years, how do you really say goodbye?  Goodbye simply isn’t good enough.  It simply comes up too short.  And besides, I want to boycott goodbye because it implies a finality that I don’t think I believe in.  I started thinking about Jesus – how did handle goodbyes?  And I started thinking about Paul – he worked with so many churches, so how did he handle farewells?  As I started reading, I realized they didn’t say goodbye.  Jesus simply told his followers to go and do, and Paul’s favorite method of closure wasn’t saying goodbye, it was giving a blessing, speaking grace and peace over his readers.  This gives me great comfort.  Because it’s true – as Christians we are knit together.  The Bible says that we are grafted together – we can’t be separated because we are literally tethered to one another by the spirit of God.  Proverbs says that, ‘as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another’.  The people at BBC have sharpened me over the past 10 years, literally changed me and left their mark on me, so I’ll always carry them with me.  All of us now move forward, to encounter different people who will challenge us, teach us, shape us, sharpen us in a new way.  And those people yet to come will also leave their mark on us and us with them. 

Brad and I’s last words in our last worship service are how I want to close our chapter at BBC.  Not with thank you and goodbye.  Those words offer some meaning, but not enough.  And while the following words aren’t perfect either, they do express my dreams for the people that I love and will always hold dear and who will always be a part of me.  So, for you, my family at BBC:

May the love of God surround you;
May Jesus Christ always stand before you with an invitation to know him and to follow him;
May the Spirit give you wisdom and grace for the journey,
May God be with each and all of us until we meet again.
To Him be all the praise and all the glory, forever and ever.  Amen.