Grandchamp Community

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The Communauté de Grandchamp is a Protestant community of sisters in the hamlet of Grandchamp in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel . Grandchamp (municipality of Boudry ) is located on the Areuse just before it flows into Lake Neuchâtel .

The evangelical community of sisters of different Protestant traditions was established in 1952 (under Superior Geneviève Micheli ) and lives according to an early version of the rule of the Communauté de Taizé . Unlike other Protestant communities of women is not diaconal but specifically monastic on prayer and community oriented. In addition to the men's order (Taizé) and the women's order (Grandchamp) , the order family also includes a third order , the Third Order of Unity , which is looked after from Grandchamp.

The sisters of the Community de Grandchamp wear a dove-blue habit with a veil and a dark blue jacket. After several years of postulate and novitiate with perpetual vows, they undertake to live together in a monastery in accordance with the evangelical counsels in poverty , chastity and obedience . They live in cells and have a daily routine characterized by Ora et labora with four common prayer times as well as time for personal prayer and the Lectio divina . The meal is eaten together in silence, with occasional table reading with news and a spiritual reading. The monastery is run by the prioress and the council of sisters.

The approximately sixty sisters are Reformed , Lutheran , Methodist and Baptist and come from Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands , the Congo and Indonesia . The majority live in Grandchamp, some on the Sonnenhof in Gelterkinden . Others live - in twos or threes - as simple cells of friendship and prayer in different places: in Switzerland, in Israel , in Algeria and other places.

Monastic hospitality is a part of Grandchamps, and the Grandchamp sisters hold regular retreats . Often guests are present who experience silence, prayer and fellowship in the monastery for a longer or shorter period of time. There is also the possibility of a voluntary service , a kind of temporary monastery , whereby the mostly younger volunteers work in the household, guest management and garden and during this time they look for orientation for their lives and are accompanied by the sisters. Women and men are welcome. Reformed pastors especially like to make use of it.

The community of Grandchamp belongs to the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Neuchâtel , the Evangelical Reformed Church of Switzerland and the World Council of Churches . The Lord's Supper is celebrated twice a week (with few exceptions always on Sundays at 7:30 a.m. and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m.), and ordained pastors come from abroad.

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Coordinates: 46 ° 57 ′ 7 "  N , 6 ° 51 ′ 31"  E ; CH1903:  555851  /  200251