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Wholeness Season 2026-27

We are pleased to announce our theme for the 2026-27 season: “What are you Seeking?” It is based on the Community of Taizé’s theme for the calendar year 2026, “Que cherches-tu ?” In his January introductory letter, Br. Matthew considers the first words of Jesus from the book of John, “What are you seeking?” A monastic community that serves youth and young adults worldwide, Taizé hosts thousands of young people per year. Br. Matthew shared this question with six of these young volunteers from six different countries spread over four continents. His letter describes their answers and his reflections on them:

  • Seeking silence
  • Seeking a direction
  • Seeking joy
  • Seeking meaning
  • Seeking a just world
  • Seeking a community

With these six topics in mind, we go into 2026-27. Brief homilies will be prepared by pastors and lay speakers from our worship team over the next year. Scripture will be selected for meditation based on each topic. The year will be a mix of Taizé Common Prayers and normal Wholeness Services. (Each will be marked on the calendar.)

While the full season of services is still in the planning stage, an early preview for the 2026-2027 season will come on a Sunday morning in the near future. On August 23, 2026, we will conduct a Taizé Morning Prayer service at our principal host and partner church, San Gabriel Presbyterian Church. Taizé Prayers will take the place during their usual Sunday morning worship service. Taizé songs will take the place of traditional hymns, and the format of the worship service will adapt to bring a morning of candlelight, contemplative prayer.

About the songs: Taizé Prayer chants are congregational, made of short phrases that are repeated for ease of participation. In our services, we always sing in English, but for an idea of how the songs sound, please enjoy this YouTube playlist:

YouTube player

The Georgetown Ecumenical Wholeness Service meets once per month. All services are open to the public. We pray together by using two very special types of worship templates: the Service of Healing and Wholeness and Taizé Common Prayers. We are led by a diverse community of area Christians, and these services are open to all who would come. Songs are sung from the Community of Taizé. Opportunities are given for intercessory prayer and the lighting of candles. A time is set aside for private prayer and anointing with oil. Communion is offered to all in attendance, with gluten-free elements available.

We hope to see you, our friends and neighbors, in 2026-2027.

A Brief History of the Wholeness Service

Founded in the late 1990’s by Dr. George Biggs of First Presbyterian Church, Georgetown, TX, the Wholeness Service began as a small prayer meeting. On a few Sunday evenings at sunset, Biggs invited friends and neighbors to join him in a circle. The group sang hymns and read scripture together. They lit candles to symbolize private prayers. Ordained ministers laid hands on them, praying with them and anointing them with oil; counseling them when requested. The meetings took place every month, following a template that may be found in many Christian books of common worship, and made a significant impact on Biggs’ congregation. Soon, pastors from other area churches joined the leadership circle and the small Service of Healing and Wholeness grew beyond the walls of First Presbyterian Church. Songs and prayers from Taizé, music based on the haunting chants of early Christianity, eventually replaced traditional hymns, adding an extra dimension to the meditative atmosphere. Today, with an updated name and a tradition established over 25 years ago, the Georgetown Ecumenial Wholeness Service welcomes a community-wide congregation, some of the area’s finest musicians, and ministers across both Travis and Williamson counties. 

As we return this year, the Wholeness Service invites everyone, churched and unchurched, to come together and pray. At our services, attendees may sit either with a group or alone as they sing, pray, or simply listen. Unique among the worship experiences in its community, the Wholeness Service is also unique in the place, or places it calls home. Interdenominational and carefully focused on scripture rather than doctrine, this event may take place in many area buildings. To date, First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, Wellspring, a United Community of Faith, and San Gabriel Presbyterian Church, all of Georgetown, Texas, have hosted the Wholeness Service. In August, 2024, the service ventured outside of the Georgetown city limits for the first time with a Taizé evening prayer service in the beautiful St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church of Salado, Texas. Many other area churches count themselves as active worship partners. 

Join us

The Wholeness Service likes to say, “All are welcome, all are embraced.” For us, the place may change from season to season, but the mission is the same: pray for each other, pray for the world, and spend a quiet hour with God. We can’t wait to see where God leads us next. Join the Georgetown Ecumenical Wholeness Service for a peaceful season of candlelight, contemplative prayer.

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