A few minutes before people arrived, the Rev. Manda Stack began to light the votive candles set around the church. From the sills of the stained glass windows, the piano top and altar, the candlelight embraced the sanctuary in a warm glow.

As congregation members came in, they greeted Stack silently and took seats in the pews.

At 7 p.m. Stack broke the silence and began the Taizé prayer service.

The slow-paced service is a chance for people to clear their minds and worship together in quiet, she said.

"It's a different style compared to Sunday morning service," said Stack, the pastor at both Union Grove Congregational United Church of Christ and Raymond Community Church United Church of Christ, where she leads the Taizé services each Wednesday.

"There's music, scripture and prayer, but it's a slower pace. There's some silence to invite us into prayer."

In a busy world, our heads are filled with thoughts of what we want and have to do. The Taizé service is 30 to 45 minutes of head-clearing prayer each week.

"I just feel peace," said Patti Kasprowicz, after a recent Taizé service at Union Grove Congregational. "There's not enough of that in the world."

The local services are modeled after the quiet prayer traditional in Taizé, France, an ecumenical Christian community that draws thousands of pilgrims each year to learn about their mission of prayer, simplicity, service and reconciliation. Founded in 1940, Taizé has become an international monastic community populated by more than 100 brothers from different Christian traditions.

The prayer services are very simple. People enter in silence. There are a few short songs with repeated words, scripture readings, silent prayer and a lighting of candles.

"It's uncluttered," Stack said. "There's more space for us to think and pray. Many of us have so much on our minds. It's a chance to stop for a while and slow our anxious thoughts down and offer them to God. Prayers come more from the heart than from the mind."

Although she has never been to the city in France, Stack said she has attended Taizé services before.

"Taizé has been around for a while," she said. "It's become more popular in the last decade. The community has people who travel and lead worship services in other parts of the world. I'd heard about it here and there. Then I experienced a Taizé worship service at another church. I was really taken with it."

Stack decided it was something she wanted to try at the churches she leads. She brought the idea to the members, played them some of the traditional music, and they agreed to try it.

"It's been very well received by our congregations," Stack said. "It is so lovely. You leave feel like your lighter. It's a beautiful service."

People have told her it has been very meaningful for them. They are telling others about the Taizé services and making time in their schedules to come and be a part of them.

"It's alone time with yourself," said Joyce Gilbertson. "When you leave here you feel like a renewed person."

Deb Barnes said she had never been to a Taizé service until the they began to be held locally. "It's different and refreshing," she said. "I feel new."

Frank Barnes said the prayer services feel personal to him.

"They are a lot more like a personal service where you connect with the Lord," he said. "You don't have the distractions."

Barnes said when he leaves a Taizé prayer service he feels relieved. "It feels like a burden has been taken off

your shoulders."

The services, which Stack began leading in late September, are held every Wednesday at either the Union Grove or Raymond church. They will be held through Dec. 17. They are open to people of all denominations - like the Taizé community itself.

The prayer service is not a new religion, but a different style of worship.

"It offers the opportunity to appreciate our own faith more deeply with other people in community," Stack said. "We see this is a mission to the wider community. Let's set aside all of our agendas and worship together. It's a gift that the churches can bring to the community."

If You Go

WHAT: Taizé worship services

WHERE: Union Grove Congregational United Church of Christ, 1106 11th Ave. in Union Grove; and Raymond Community Church, 8217 W. Highway G in Franksville.

WHEN: Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Services are held at Raymond Community Church on the first and third Wednesday of the month, and at Union Grove Congregational on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month.

The prayer services will be held through Dec. 17.

MORE INFO: The services are open to the public. Free will offerings are accepted. On Nov. 26, people who attend are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for the Union Grove area food bank.

For more information, call Union Grove Congregational at (262) 878-1690, or Raymond Community Church at (262) 835-2157.