About Hidden Brook
Hidden Brook is a contemplative service using a rotation of different formats on the four or five Thursdays of each month. The first Thursday of each month incorporates prayer, chant, candlelight, silence, poetry, and music. Music from Taize is often woven through the service (see below for more about Taize), and each service is a unique creation. Each service has a theme which may be a person, historic event, or season.
The second Thursday of each month includes contemplation and discussion motivated by brief excerpts from the works of Thomas Merton.
The third Thursday of each month features centering prayer. A period of sharing and instruction precedes the centering prayer.
The fourth Thursday of each month is Compline or Evening Prayer.
The fifth Sunday of the month, when there is one, is Evensong.
Please plan to attend one or more of these Hidden Brook formats regularly. For an invitation to the Zoom Hidden Brook service, contact Steve Steadman at sgsteadman@gmail.com.
This Week at Hidden Brook
The next Hidden Brook service will be held via Zoom at 7 pm on Thursday May 1. If you are new to Hidden Brook and would like an invitation to the Zoom Hidden Brook service, contact Steve Steadman sgsteadman@gmail.com.
Keep meditating! Keep praying!
Words ABOUT SILENCE:
In silence we pass through the bounds of language to lose ourselves in wonder.
—Society of St. John the Evangelist, Rule
Why Hidden Brook?
Our name "The Hidden Brook" resonates on several levels, both historic and spiritual. Literally, it describes the underground stream that runs down Russell Avenue and irrigated the celery farms that were on this land before the church was built. It was also the name of Good Shepherd's first nursery school. And now, for CGS's Thursday night community in the 21st century, it evokes the spiritual hidden brooks in all our lives -- sources of peace and refreshment that we can touch more deeply by spending time on our inner journeys -- individually, yet still together.
What is TAIZÉ?
Taizé services are characterized by quiet and candlelight, the repetition of melodious chants sung many times in many languages, a period of silence, and contemplative prayer. Let the songs sing themselves in you. Once you catch the tune, let yourself find the words -- in your heart or as you listen to your brothers and sisters as they sing. Let your spirit move along the path provided by rhythmic repetition, deeper and deeper into the stillness and beauty of God's presence.
AT ANY TIME DURING AN IN-PERSON HIDDEN BROOK SERVICE, FEEL FREE TO
Light a candle,
hold an object from the altar,
or move to any part of the church you prefer.