Lighting the Candles at last night’s ecumenical Taizé Service, organized by the National Council of Churches of Taiwan (NCCT) and held at the Taipei Wesley Methodist Church in central Taipei…
The theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was “Your Right Hand, O Lord, Glorious in Power’ (Exodus 15:6), and prepared by churches in the Caribbean. We had readings and songs in many of the different languages spoken in Taiwan. Very meaningful and beautiful.
I love Taizé services!
Every year, Taipei has a weekend of activities, organised by the National Council of Churches of Taiwan, to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, starting with a Taizé Service on the Friday night.
Last night the service was held in the R. C. Church of Christ the King in Shilin – located on about the busiest crossroads in the city. Ah yes, a Friday night rush hour oasis of peace and calm!
The 2017 theme is ‘Reconciliation ~ The Love of Christ Compels Us’ (2 Cor. 5: 14-20), marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and prepared by the church in Germany….
The church was completely full – and yes that is the R. C. Archbishop of Taipei, John Hung, sitting in the front row.
Schools have broken up, Chinese New Year is coming next weekend, and everyone is rushing around getting ready. I’m taking a break ~ so wishing you all a Happy New Year of the Rooster, and see you in a few week’s time!
Good Shepherd Church, Taipei hosted its first Taizé Day on Saturday ~ a whole day from 9:00am to 7:00pm….. and it was wonderful!
Morning, midday and evening prayer times were the highlight, with talks and sharing in-between, including 3 young people who’ve recently been to Taizé sharing their experiences…. plus Brother Lucas, a real live Taizé brother from Hong Kong. More than 150 came along, including some participants who came specially all the way from central and southern Taiwan…
Most appropriate that this should take place right in the middle of Lent, and right in the middle of a growing political crisis with student protesters occupying the Legislature in Taipei ~ we pray that justice and peace may prevail…
What is amazing about Taizé is that it’s so ecumenical that all Christian denominations are welcome to receive Holy Communion, and all churches participated on Saturday – Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. Everyone receiving Communion together in the same service is such a wonderful witness!
The Taipei Taizé Team did a great job ~ here they are, with Brother Lucas in the middle…
Next year is the 75th anniversary of the Taizé Community – and here’s to the next 75!
Catherine Lee 