Quiet Time
BUTLER TWP — Overhead lamps were dimmed Sunday night at Christ Community United Methodist Church, but a Lenten service there offered abundant light.
Met by greeters holding signs that read "SILENCE," attendees entered the service through an unlit hallway, where luminarias instead lined the walls.
In the sanctuary, hundreds of candles filled stands and surfaces, shedding their light on a red altar drape. A portrait of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns sat on an easel nearby.
After a time of silence with churchgoers settling into the pews, hand bells signaled the start of the Taizé service, a contemplative worship that originated in Taizé, France.
Pronounced in various ways including teh-ZAY and tie-ZAY, the service includes periods of silent meditation interspersed with readings and song. Instead of a pastor officiating, the spoken segments come from the pews.
Christ Community used a guitar, flute and keyboards for interludes between meditations and singing.
Although silence defined much of the service, attendees had much to say a day later.
"I felt the presence of God was there even more so than usual," said Nancy Zirnsak of Center Township, who shared the experience with her daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.
"It was just transfixing. It was amazing."
Bud Glendening of Butler Township agreed, explaining how candlelight and repeated short songs lent themselves to quiet contemplation."It's more spiritual, more contemplative," he said, noting the evening hour also might enhance the feeling of calm.Glendening's wife Carolyn helped organize the service under the direction of church member Mary Grey Emmett.Emmett had hosted several Taizé services at First United Methodist Church in Murrysville, where she served as pastor until retiring five years ago.Emmett said the services draw tourists to the town of Taizé in Burgundy, with a similar effect at the local level."People from the community started coming to these. People from other churches started coming," Emmett said. "It's ecumenical."It's not a Methodist service; it's not Presbyterian; it's not Catholic. It's meditative time."The services in France are hosted by a Christian monastic order, which formed after World War II. The initial brotherhood of just a few men has grown to include hundreds, and the town and its services have become a popular destination for Christian pilgrimages. In Taizé, the services are offered three times a day throughout the year.As a result, churches like Christ Community duplicate the services at home. To educate themselves, organizers from Christ Community attended a Taizé service at East Liberty
Presbyterian Church in East Liberty, which hosts the events Wednesday nights.Although readings are interchangeable, the format and music are used universally."I'm still humming the tunes," Carolyn Glendening said. "I woke up humming one of them this morning. ... It sort of brings me be back to the evening and brings me back toward the sentiment of reconciliation and thoughts of God.""I think all of our hearts were on our shoulders there," Zirnsak agreed. "I could truly feel God's presence in the sanctuary. What a wonderful way to start Lent."The Rev. Howard Burrell, pastor of Christ Community, also was pleased with the service outcome."I think the people that organized (the service) did an excellent job," he said. "The people that attended the service were moved by it."Burrell said offering the Taizé service fit in with a denominational effort to rethink the concept of church and redefine the worship experience. Similar efforts have included a drum circle, which led church members to form a drumming group.
