The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has just accompanied 112 Year 10 & 11 students from Abbey Grange CE Academy Leeds and four schools in York to Taizé for a week.
Archbishop Sentamu said; “Taizé is a place of trust, joy, simplicity and compassion. My Young Leaders Award encourages people to look beyond themselves in the service of others. To be able to join with young people from more than 100 countries in sharing food together, worship and learning is a wonderful experience, and each time I have gone to Taizé I have returned blessed, inspired and encouraged by others”.
Founded in 1940 by Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche ('Brother Roger'), the Taizé Community in south-west France is an ecumenical monastic order of mainly Catholic and Protestant communities from 30 countries. Every year over 100,000 young people make their pilgrimages of trust and reconciliation, prayer, bible study and communal work.
Kay Brown, Chaplain at Abbey Grange CE Academy in Leeds, said: “Abbey Grange was thrilled to be invited to join the Yorkshire pilgrimage to Taizé to explore what faith means in an open and questioning environment, to experience and be involved in music in a new way and to meet so many new people from across Europe and beyond. We were all challenged and inspired in equal measure.”
Dan Finn, Director of the Youth Trust, said; “This is the second group of Young Leaders that have chosen to extend their learning of the Awards with a Pilgrimage to Taizé. There is something for everyone - a chance to meet new friends, to join in and volunteer with others, to pray and to study in small groups. It is a place of incredible welcome which is something the Young Leaders have been exploring in depth as part of the structured workshops at Taizé on migration, asylum seekers and refugees”.
During the week, the Young Leaders posted blogs on the archbishop's website: www.archbishopofyork.org
To date the Youth Trust have enrolled over 450 Primary and Secondary schools to the Young Leaders Awards, empowering 50,000 young people to put leadership into action and make a difference in other people's lives through acts of service and community volunteering.
For more information on the Young Leaders Awards, visit www.abyyt.com or contact The Archbishop of York Youth Trust: 01904 231010 or youth.trust@abyyt.com