Church Name: Ascension Catholic Church
Church Address: 808 S. East Avenue, Oak Park, IL 60304
Date Attended: 4/4/14
Church Category: Catholic (but the service I attended was "In the Spirit of Taizé")
(different ethnic/ racial demographic)
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
The Taizé worship service is an ecumenical form of prayer modeled after the French Taizé community (an ecumenical Christian monastic community of brothers). The purpose of this kind of worship service is to foster reconciliation and peace among all people. Christians of all traditions share in this ecumenical prayer. The service is primarily comprised of meditative common prayer. The congregation sings uncomplicated, repetitive songs, uncluttered by too many words, in order order to allow the mystery of God to become tangible through the beauty of simplicity. It was different from my regular context as the sermon was incredibly short, but the worship and prayer were very long (about an hour and a half). We all had candles with us and there was a time when children walked down the aisles lighting the candles of the first person in each row. The light spread and, pretty soon, the entire room was glowing with the light of our candles. We then all filed in lines as we continued praying and singing to put our candles in the sand bowls in front of the cross. Many of the songs were sung in different languages (Russian, Polish, Spanish, French--every month changes languages). We also sang a song as we all held hands together. There was another time when anyone who wished to go to the front to kiss or kneel before the cross was able to.
Date Attended: 4/4/14
Church Category: Catholic (but the service I attended was "In the Spirit of Taizé")
(different ethnic/ racial demographic)
Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?
The Taizé worship service is an ecumenical form of prayer modeled after the French Taizé community (an ecumenical Christian monastic community of brothers). The purpose of this kind of worship service is to foster reconciliation and peace among all people. Christians of all traditions share in this ecumenical prayer. The service is primarily comprised of meditative common prayer. The congregation sings uncomplicated, repetitive songs, uncluttered by too many words, in order order to allow the mystery of God to become tangible through the beauty of simplicity. It was different from my regular context as the sermon was incredibly short, but the worship and prayer were very long (about an hour and a half). We all had candles with us and there was a time when children walked down the aisles lighting the candles of the first person in each row. The light spread and, pretty soon, the entire room was glowing with the light of our candles. We then all filed in lines as we continued praying and singing to put our candles in the sand bowls in front of the cross. Many of the songs were sung in different languages (Russian, Polish, Spanish, French--every month changes languages). We also sang a song as we all held hands together. There was another time when anyone who wished to go to the front to kiss or kneel before the cross was able to.
What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?
I found the meditative style of singing and praying the most appealing about the worship service. Being in that room felt so surreal. It really felt like it was a room that was set apart. God felt very sacred, to be revered, and mysterious.
What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?
The most disorienting part about the worship service was when people were invited to go to the front to kneel before the cross. As I was contemplating on whether I should go up or not, I felt uncomfortable doing something that is generally done very personally in my local context so publicly. But, I did really love how embodied the worship was. It made me wonder: Why doesn't my church back home have such embodied worship and prayer?
What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?
Through the Taizé worship service, the peacefulness and gentleness of God was illuminated to me.
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