Summary

Drawing on the breadth of expression in the Psalms, we will identify how in private pastoral encounters as in public worship arenas the psalms—spoken or sung—can minister to our deepest needs and potentials.

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For many traditions, the Psalms are primarily one of the sine qua nons of Sunday worship, whether sung metrically like hymns in the Reformed tradition, or slotted between the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament reading as in Roman Catholic and Episcopal traditions. But to harness their use solely or primarily for liturgical purposes is almost to deny their origin as songs which spoke to God from particular experiences of delight, triumph, loss, depression or a hundred other emotions. Drawing on the breadth of expression in the Psalms, we will identify how in private pastoral encounters as in public worship arenas the psalms—spoken or sung—can minister to our deepest needs and potentials.

Hosted by CICW's Senior Research Fellow Emily Brink and presented by hymn-writer Rev. John Bell.

Presented at the 2012 Calvin Symposium on Worship.

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