Psalms/Scripture
Local Psalm Festivals

As part of the Dwelling in the Psalms year, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship has provided resources to support Psalm festivals around Canada and the United States. These events are open to the public and many will be livestreamed. 

May 6, 2026 | 4 min read
Surprised by the Psalms

Anneke Kaai studied fine art and painting in the Netherlands at secular schools in the 1960s and ’70s. That experience compelled her to express her Christian faith through her art. She has painted many works based on scripture, including three series of paintings on the psalms, which she sees as a bountiful resource of imagery for the full range of human feelings in relation to God.

May 5, 2026 | 90 min video
Karen Campbell on Considering Lament: Psalms of Protest, Pain and Hope

Technically, the Troubles in Northern Ireland ended in 1998. But just as trauma didn’t end after the passage of the US Civil Rights Act or the work of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, pain still lingers in Northern Ireland. Karen and David Campbell composed a new set of lament songs to help Christians voice protest, pain, and hope during worship.

May 4, 2026 | 8 min read

Psalmody in Black: The Psalter as Human Expression

This workshop explores the deep connection between the psalms and the breadth of human emotion through musical settings by Black composers. Interwoven with reflections on the history and function of the Psalter, this program reveals how these timeless texts continue to speak to the spiritual, emotional, and cultural experiences of our shared humanity. 

May 1, 2026 | 90 min video
Andrew Wilkes on Doing the Work of Liberation and Justice with the Psalms as Our Guide

Pastor-scholar Andrew Wilkes shares how his worshiping community, Double Love Experience Church, prayed and sang the psalms during the troubling times of 2020. The psalms gave them language and support for praise and lament, and Wilkes asserts that lament is the evidence of faith because we are bringing our troubles to God.

April 10, 2026 | 14 min listen
W. David O. Taylor on the Psalms and Praying the Unedited Life

Author and pastor-scholar David Taylor shares how he came to appreciate the psalms and how he encourages people to bring their full, unedited selves to God in prayer and experience a richer and more honest life of faith.

April 10, 2026 | 26 min listen

Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford on the Shape and Shaping of the Psalter

Old Testament scholar Nancy deClaissé-Walford has spent her career studying the ordering of the Psalter. Most of the psalms, she says, are not tied to a particular situation, allowing us to sing and pray them honestly in our own contexts.

April 10, 2026 | 17 min listen
Preaching the Prayer Book of Jesus

A Psalm Talk by Jared E. Alcántara recorded at the 2026 Psalms 150 conference, with a visual prayer and embodied response from artist Dea Jenkins.

March 26, 2026 | 18 min video

Temporada de Resurrección: Nueva vida para otro mundo posible

El documento analiza el significado de los Salmos en el calendario litúrgico cristiano, centrándose en su significado durante la temporada de Resurrección. Se destaca cómo estos salmos celebran nuestro éxodo de Egipto y así simbolizan la victoria de Dios ante las fuerzas del mal y la muerte, con la resurrección de Jesús.  

March 16, 2026 | 15 min read
The Psalms: Songs for Trauma Recovery and Resilience

Psalm Talk by Cynthia Eriksson recorded at the 2026 Psalms 150 conference with a visual prayer and embodied response led by Dea Jenkins. 

March 12, 2026 | 22 min video