My Taize Pilgrimage
Director of Parcevall Hall, Helen Reid, told the story of her pilgrimage to Taize in 2025 to the Pilgrimage Open Quiet Day in March 2025
We went as a family of four in a diocesan pilgrimage group of just over thirty people led by +Smitha. We hadn’t been able to make the date of the ‘get to know each other’ zoom call, so at the time of arriving at the coach to set off we had no real sense of who we would be spending the next week with.
Some had chosen to come because they liked Taize worship, some had been before, some joined in because they liked the idea of pilgrimage. We were a mixed bunch. We formed a What’s App group and small groups spent time together during the week but other than when we all met with ++Stephen, we didn’t meet as a whole group until the journey back.
We found ourselves among 4-5000 people at Taize and more than half were young adults which is a powerful experience, perhaps especially so for people from rural churches. Daily life was lived largely outdoors, with large gazebos for meals, and dormitories or tents for sleeping. The meals were very simple and it was amazing to cater for so many people.
The day was structured around three worship services which were the key anchor points, everyone’s favourite part of the day. There were also small groups for shared reflection when people from different countries would meet together. My impression was that I met a lot of German and Portuguese pilgrims, but not so many French or British. There was volunteering to keep the show on the road which included practical tasks – I was on a team cleaning showers and toilets – and also singing practice. I liked that singing had such a clear role showing its value at Taize.
Being at Taize reminded me of my time on a kibbutz, I spent the summer after my A Levels on a Kfar Masaryk Kibbutz. It was also a large community, a simple life lived largely outdoors life, communal meals and surrounded by like-minded people. On a kibbutz I found that you need to join in and find the existing rhythm, as at Taize. Coming to Taize from the UK and my professional life, it took a while to get into the right ‘zone’ for being there. You learn to walk at the right pace, be patient with the time everything takes, appreciate what others find challenging and feel compassion. For some people it was all about talking a bit less, for others it was talking a bit more. Allowing people space to find their way was a priority over overt or direct support, and this was a consciously adopted spiritual approach.
Worship at Taize feels really different to Taize worship in your local setting. People begin to gather when the bells ring, you sit on the floor in silence in a huge church with a floor that slopes forwards. From visiting St David’s Cathedral, I am familiar with a church that slopes up to the altar to create a sense of pilgrimage, but sloping down has quite a different effect. The front of the church is truly beautiful, with the colours and candles. It is hard to explain how it was so moving, you can see the pictures or videos without it really resonating as it does when you are there.
As everyone gathers, the brothers also gather coming into the front and centre. They move unobtrusively and gently hold the worshipping community together. They come in individually but leave together which I found hugely symbolic and purposeful. Some then stand at the back of the church to be there for anyone who wants to talk.
The service runs unannounced and it takes the time it takes. You hear snatches of English here and there, and you learn to watch the small digital displays for the numbers of the chants. There isn’t a sermon but you sit together in silence for 10 minutes, At the start that seems a long time and you feel like you are on your best behaviour trying not to fidget, but as the days progress, it feels natural and easy, perhaps a little short even. There is a pervading sense that you need to just be there, to partake, be in communion, just join in with what you can. It isn’t passive, however, it is inclusive and relaxed.
It is distinctively Christian but it did also remind me of a gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship. This was because you all sit on the floor, facing the front, facing what is beautiful. Also because, linguistically I didn’t exactly know what was happening, so there was the same sense of mystery at times. The key differences are you can sit as you want whereas in a gurdwara you mustn’t point your toes forward. Another key difference from a gurdwara is that people have their shoes on and you walk on the carpet you sit on. The church did get vaccuumed but there wasn’t the same strong sense of cleanliness as part of the spirituality. The spirituality of Taize as a big busy community is more focussed on other priorities – to all be together and for it to be affordable for all. I learnt a lot from its approach to an inclusive spirituality.
++Stephen joined us towards the end of the week and his presence was much anticipated. He brought humour and encouragement, and a sense of spiritual strength. He was clearly at home in the Taize worship and also made a distinctively British Anglican contribution at the special service we had as a British group and when he preached at the Sunday worship. When he preached on Sunday there was a French translator, and it was the only time I heard laughter in the church. He brought people together in a distinctive way.
We arrived back in Huddersfield at 5am after a 21 hour coach journey, and then had to re-acclimatise to British weather and normal life. By the end of the week, I was really ill with covid. It was hard to have had such a transformational time, to then come back to earth with a bump, and to stay down.
But as I reflect back now, I am grateful for the experience of pilgrimage, even at that cost. Taize was a time for personal reflection, for feeling integrated as an individual, a family, a Christian community member and a Retreat House director. The holistic approach of Taize was helpful to me, and I still catch the wistful sense of the worship when singing Taize chants in the Dales. It is good to feel a connection.
At our Taize inspired Open Quiet Day at Parcevall, we went on a form of journey together. We settled down together and adopted a Taize pace. We sang Taize chants we knew already and learnt new ones. No one needed to be a good or confident singer, when we sing together we allow the Spirit breathing space. Some of us were new to Taize and some of us were very familiar. We brought our own perspectives and individuality, and it was good to be together and be inspired by Taize.
