A Community Called Taize
A Community Called Taize

Author: Jason Brian Santos

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2010-01-09

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 0830878432

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Taizé--the word is strangely familiar to many throughout the contemporary church. Familiar, perhaps, because the chanted prayers of Taizé are well practiced in churches throughout the world. Strangely, however, because so little is known about Taizé--from its historic beginnings to how the word itself is pronounced. The worship of the Taizé community, as it turns out, is best understood in the context of its greater mission. On the day Jason Brian Santos arrived in the Taizé community its leader was brutally murdered before his eyes. Instead of making Santos want to leave, the way the community handled this tragedy made him long to stay and learn more about this group of people who could respond to such evil with grace and love. In this book he takes us on a tour of one of the world's first ecumenical monastic orders, from its monastic origins in the war-torn south of 1940s France to its emerging mission as a pilgrimage site and spiritual focal point for millions of young people throughout the world. In A Community Called Taizé you'll meet the brothers of the order and the countless visitors and volunteers who have taken upon themselves a modest mission: pronouncing peace and reconciliation to the church and the world.

Friends in Christ: Paths to a New Understanding of Church
Friends in Christ: Paths to a New Understanding of Church

Author: Brother John of Taize

Publisher: Orbis Books

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1608332357

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"This book, for both seekers and practicing Christians, highlights the importance of friendship for human community. Beginning with stories of friendship in biblical accounts and the teachings of the early leaders of the church, Brother John describes friendship as the basis for community throughout the world and at Taizé, an international ecumenical community that draws thousands of young people from around the globe together in worship and prayer."--Back cover.

The Sources of Taizé
The Sources of Taizé

Author: frère Roger

Publisher: GIA Publications

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 9781579990862

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The "source book" on which the common life in Taize is based, this short volume is fundamental for understanding the vocation of Taize. It is presented like a letter that Brother Roger addresses personally to each reader, telling how in spite of discouragement and even doubt we can constantly find refreshment in returning again and again to the sources of faith. In the second part of the book, Brother Roger speaks particularly to the brothers of the community, recalling the essentials that make life together possible. In his own particular style, Taize's founder expresses himself in words that go straight to the heart. In page after page, he is careful not to write a single word that he has not first of all tried to live out himself.

Love, Imperfectly Known
Love, Imperfectly Known

Author: Brother Emmanuel of Taizé

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2011-05-19

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1441116370

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This unique work analyzes the crisis in modern society, building on the ideas of the Frankfurt School thinkers. Emphasizing social evolution and learning processes, it argues that crisis is mediated by social class conflicts and collective learning, the results of which are embodied in constitutional and public law. First, the work outlines a new categorical framework of critical theory in which it is conceived as a theory of crisis. It shows that the Marxist focus on economy and on class struggle is too narrow to deal with the range of social conflicts within modern society, and posits that a crisis of legitimization is at the core of all crises. It then discusses the dialectic of revolutionary and evolutionary developmental processes of modern society and its legal system. This volume in the Critical Theory and Contemporary Society by a leading scholar in the field provides a new approach to critical theory that will appeal to anyone studying political sociology, political theory, and law.

The Younger Evangelicals
The Younger Evangelicals

Author: Robert E. Webber

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2002-10-01

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 1585583901

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Robert E. Webber has led worship workshops in every major city in the United States and Canada. Through his conversations and contacts with a network of emerging church leaders he calls the "younger evangelicals," Webber sees how this new generation and their style of leadership is bringing change and renewal to the evangelical church. These leaders, who include those young in spirit as well as young in age, have important insights to offer all generations faced with "doing church" in a rapidly changing postmodern culture. The Younger Evangelicals explores the characteristics of these emerging leaders and provides an outlet for their stories. Beginning with a brief overview of twentieth-century evangelicalism, Webber examines what is different about the twenty-first century younger evangelicals' way of thinking about faith and practicing church. He allows them-Ph.D.s and laypeople-to speak in their own words on issues such as communication, theology, apologetics, pastoral leadership, evangelism, worship, and spiritual formation. Thought provoking, energizing, and timely, The Younger Evangelicals is a landmark book for pastors and church leaders, culture watchers, ministry students, and worship leaders who want to prepare for and respond to the new evangelical awakening brought on by our changing cultural context.

Liturgical Music as Ritual Symbol
Liturgical Music as Ritual Symbol

Author: Judith Marie Kubicki

Publisher: Peeters Publishers

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9789042907409

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In this book, Sister Kubicki uses Jacques Berthier's Taize music to explore the nature of liturgical music as ritual symbol. She carries out a hermeneutical analysis of Berthier's chants and examines biographical and historical data related to the creator's of Taize music and the founding of the Taize community. The author draws on five areas of study to interpret the Taize chants as ritual symbol - symbol theory, semiotics, theologies of symbol, ritual theory, and perfomative language theory. The final chapter explores potential ecclesial meanings which may be mediated in the Taize liturgy and the role of Berthier's chants in mediating that meaning. The study concludes that it is music's symbolic property that enables it to be both ministerial and integral to the liturgy. As symbolic activity, music-making evokes participation, negotiates relationships, and enables the assembly to orient themselves and to find their identity and place within their world. Furthermore, music-making provides the illocutionary force to "do something" in the act of singing. Thus it is that as part of a complexus of ritual symbols, music interacts with other symbols, in mediating the liturgy's meaning.

How to Be a Christian without Going to Church
How to Be a Christian without Going to Church

Author: Kelly Bean

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2014-06-24

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1441246533

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As many--young people especially--leave the traditional church in droves, they often still long for a genuine Christian community in which to practice their faith and share their spiritual journeys with others. They want to be faithful but struggle to find a place where they flourish. Whether they've already left the church behind or are merely considering it, readers will find here both heartfelt encouragement and practical steps for finding or creating a community of faith that honors God and offers rest, love, and communion with other believers. Author Kelly Bean broadens our definition of church to include many alternative forms of Christian community. With true stories of those who have given up on church and what they're doing now, this book is also helpful for pastors and churchgoers to help them understand why people leave the church--and what might be done to help them stay.