Taizé-inspired worship service: Sunday, March 9, 7–8 p.m., at Walnut Hill Mennonite Church, 909 N. Sixth Street, Goshen, Indiana. Are you looking for ways to stay rooted and grounded in God’s love in these tumultuous times? Join us for an evening of meditative worship that includes song, prayer, Scripture, candlelight and stillness — inspired by the Taizé Community in France. All ages are welcome! Hosts: Walnut Hill and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary’s Faith Formation Collaborative. To learn more, email formationcollaborative@ambs.edu. 

In my role as director of the Faith Formation Collaborative, I have been working with a group of pastors and lay leaders to organize a series of monthly worship gatherings that will be held on the second Sunday of the month over the next several months (March 9, April 13, and May 11). We’ve been wondering, is there a need in our community where, as the song goes, God gently “kindles a fire that never dies away”? 

Maybe you’ve not heard of the Community of Taizé and need to visit their website to find out more about their approach to prayer and Christian faith using this link: Taizé. Maybe you are familiar with a time of prayer in the manner of Taizé (perhaps through the monthly gatherings of Evening Song & Prayer AMBS used to hold). In either case, I want you to know three things:

  1. You are warmly invited to join us — these aren’t easy times to be a pastor! One of the privileges of my job is that I get to create spaces for pastors and church leaders to just…be.   
  2. If you do join us, please consider bringing someone with you who 
  1. could use a space where we put the chaos of our lives into God’s hands
  2. you would like to introduce to contemplative spirituality 
  3. After experiencing this way of praying in community, you are welcome to support the work. Our planning team is glad to incorporate additional people in large and small ways. To let us know what gifts you’d like to share, you can email me afterward.

Malinda Elizabeth Berry, PhD
Associate Professor of Theology & Ethics
Director of AMBS’s Faith Formation Collaborative