October 2025
Together In Mission
Monthly Reflections from BCC
Lessons in Contemplative Worship From the Taizé Community in France
By Phil Rushton
Lead Pastor
This coming Sunday, October 5, we are starting up our monthly vespers service at 6 pm. We plan to host this service on the first Sunday of the month during the school year. The word vespers simply means “evening” in Latin. In the monastic Christian tradition, vespers was the name for the liturgy of evening prayer. This language continues to this day. Last week I spent three days at the Benedictine Monastery in Mission, BC, and they held a vespers service every evening.
Another word you may have heard us use is the word Taizé (taa·zay). Taizé is simply the name of a town in France. In 1940, a man known as Brother Roger founded a small community of Christians in Taizé. During this war-torn era in France, Brother Roger sought to create a community of healing and refuge. He comments, “‘The defeat of France awoke powerful sympathy. If a house could be found there, of the kind I had dreamed of, it would offer a possible way of assisting some of those most discouraged, those deprived of a livelihood; and it could become a place of silence and work.’” The Taizé community, then, was born out of a vision to create a space for people to find God in the midst of brokenness. Hence, the name of the church in Taizé is the “Church of Reconciliation.”
After the war, this community began to grow. Besides the 100 permanent members of the Taizé community, there are currently over 100,000 visitors to Taizé annually. During the peak summer months, the small town of Taizé will receive up to 5000 visitors who come for spiritual retreats. The majority of these modern-day pilgrims are young people in their 20s. The Taizé community is also ecumenical in nature – meaning that it includes people from a variety of Christian denominations.
The Taizé community has had a major impact in the area of prayer and worship. They have developed a large repertoire of their own music, which is now sung around the world. Taizé music is very contemplative in nature. It usually involves a simple one or two-line refrain that is repeated multiple times. As the refrain is repeated over and over, different instrumental and vocal harmonies are brought in. The purpose of this repetitive singing is to help us focus and contemplate on a single aspect of God for an extended period of time. I participated in a number of Taizé-style contemplative prayer services when I lived in Canada and have continued to create liturgies based on their music.
Brother Roger explains the purpose of a prayer service at Taizé in this way:
“From the depths of the human condition, a secret aspiration rises up. Caught in the anonymous rhythms of schedules and timetables, men and women of today are implicitly thirsting for an essential reality, for an inner life. Nothing is more conducive to communion with the living God than a meditative common prayer with, as its high point, singing that never ends and that continues in the silence of one’s heart when one is alone again.”
Another element of Taizé-style worship is the emphasis on silence. During our evening vespers service, we do not have another sermon. Instead, after the scripture readings, we hold an extended time of silence that lasts around 5-7 minutes. Sometimes I will offer a prompt, other times we will simply allow ourselves to notice how we are responding to the scripture.
Brother Rogers, the now deceased leader of the Taizé community, writes this about the value of silence. “We are overwhelmed by a flood of words, by polemics, by the assault of the virtual, which today creates a kind of opaque zone.” Opaque is one of those words we don’t hear very often, but I think it is appropriate. Opaque is a word used to describe something that is impenetrable to light or which does not allow light to pass through. I can resonate with Brother Roger’s assessment of the modern ‘zone’ we live in. Our fast-paced, virtual world often dulls our ability to see and hear God. We struggle to find ways for the light of Christ to break into the everyday space we inhabit.
If you can resonate with that struggle to see and hear God in a busy and noisy world, I’d invite you to consider joining us for our vesper’s contemplative evening worship. My prayer is that this will be a space where the light of God might break through the opaqueness of our modern world and point us to the peace and hope of Jesus.
In Christ,
Pastor Phil
FROM YOUR BCC LIBRARY
By Nancy Henderson
From time to time, we will feature here the works of BCC authors. This month we feature Ron Snyder’s book The Zealot Myth.
Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Throughout the centuries, from the time Jesus walked this earth until the present day, responses have varied. How to respond to those responses?
The Zealot Myth provides answers for those who are searching for and interested in the historical Jesus, and for those who know the historical Jesus but want to be able to offer to their non-believing friends a knowledgeable book that answers questions raised by current authors who portray a false Jesus under the guise of “fresh scholarship” and post-modern thought.
Ron’s book responds to questions, assumptions and declarations raised by Reza Aslan in his book Zealot as well as many of the ideas found in the writings of other modern scholars who deny that Jesus is God incarnate, including that Jesus was merely a seditious zealot, a magician, an illiterate preacher, a cynic, and a bigot; it addresses the arrest, trial, execution, and resurrection of Jesus; corrects the notion that Paul was a rogue apostle; and demonstrates valid reasons for accepting the historical Jesus presented in the four canonical Gospels.
The Zealot Myth also discusses Islam’s view of Jesus and examines difficult topics such as the “Canaan Conquest,” Quirinius, Herod’s massacre of the innocents, the infancy stories of Jesus, and Jesus’ comment that he came not to bring peace, but a sword.
The Zealot Myth can be found in the Apologetics section of our church library.
Up next:
Writers’ Forum
Saturday October 4
10:00 –11:30 am in Classroom C
*Encouragement and mentoring for aspiring writers, from beginners to pros. We meet on the first Saturday of each month (September-June) to share projects and ideas. This month, Gaye White will share a method she used to create a book of her life experiences as a gift for her grandchildren. Hosts: Roy and Nancy Taylor
Contact if you have questions: taynancy@comcast.net
Vespers Evening Service
Sunday, October 5
6:00 pm in the Sanctuary
*Vespers is a contemplative evening worship service of scripture, singing, and prayer, in the style of Taizé.
Prime Timers
Thursday, October 9th
12:30 pm in the dining room
*Join this great group of retired age folks for a potluck lunch in the BCC dining room. Contact Jim Bruns for more information at (360) 393-1403.
Blanket Braiding
Saturday, October 11
10:00-12:30 pm
*Please consider helping us make braided blankets for those who may need them during the cold season. All blankets are precut and ready to be assembled. Don't know how to braid a blanket? That's ok, someone will help you. This is a great way to love your neighbors and experience fellowship with other people from BCC.
Women’s Ministry Meeting
Monday, October 13,
7:00 pm in Classroom C
*All Women are invited to join us and learn about our Women’s Ministry.
Share-A-Supper
Sunday, October 19 in hosts’ homes
*This is a great way to get to know our church family. Sign-ups will be in the bulletin on October 5th and 12th.
New to BCC Gathering:
Saturday, October 25
9-Noon Library
*An opportunity to meet others and get to know more about the mission, ministry, and theology at Bellingham Covenant Church. RSVP to phil@bellinghamcov.org. Lunch will be provided.
Holiday Bazaar
Saturday, November 8th
9:00 am-4:00 pm
*Volunteer Sign-Up will be in the foyer on Sunday, October 19, October 26, and November 2, after each worship service.