There have been four pubications in recent weeks in this important area. Here are the details.
Singing Psalms with feeling
Singing Psalms – Responsorial Psalms set to Simple Chant – Year A sets out the psalms in a clear and easy to use manner. It also contains Appendices covering Saints’ Days, Holy Days and the Easter Vigil, and contains cross-references to the other two volumes.
The last in a series of three, it has been produced by the Church of Ireland to encourage more psalm singing in churches. The publication contains simple musical psalm settings for all the psalms needed for the liturgical year. Like volumes one and two, Singing Psalms – Year A contains fresh and engaging simple chants for the psalms.
The Liturgical Advisory Committee (LAC) of the Church of Ireland asked musicians Alison Cadden and Peter Thompson to devise a way of setting the psalms to music that can be sung by anyone.
Alison and Peter commented, ‘Whether there is a congregation of ten or a hundred, no choir or a large chorus, Singing Psalms will work effectively – all that is needed is the prayer book and a copy of this new publication. The publication of Singing Psalms – Year A completes the full lectionary cycle of responsorial psalms and marks the culmination of this important project by the LAC. We are delighted to see the full set in print and hope that they will be used to reinvigorate psalm-singing throughout Ireland and beyond.’Alison and Peter are both members of the Liturgical Advisory Committee and actively involved in the music of their parishes. Alison is a music teacher in Portadown, while Peter is Rector of Castlecaulfield.
Singing Psalms – Responsorial Psalms set to Simple Chant – Year A sets out the psalms in a clear and easy to use manner. It also contains Appendices covering Saints’ Days, Holy Days and the Easter Vigil, and contains cross-references to the other two volumes. It is published by The Columba Press, price £12.99 or €17.99 and will be available from the Good Bookshop, Belfast and the Resource Centre, Rathmines, Dublin.
Re-ordering Liturgical Space
For many years the Church of Ireland has concentrated on producing texts for worship in its work of liturgical renewal. Now the emphasis is moving to the places and spaces where these texts are used. Recognising that fresh texts often demand a fresh context, Liturgical Space and Church Re-ordering: issues of good practice, published by Church of Ireland Publishing, attempts to show how good and theologically-informed liturgical practice can be consonant with best practice in matters of architecture and care of heritage buildings.
These guidelines have been developed by the Liturgical Advisory Committee and are published with the authority of the General Synod. The publication should be of considerable value to parishes contemplating the re-ordering of their liturgical space and ought also to be useful in conversations with planners and statutory heritage bodies. The booklet contains advice on contextual and practical matters and wider considerations as well as a useful bibliography, resource list and appendices relating to re-ordering in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
CD of Hymn Suggestions
Sing to the Word 2. Compiled by Bishop Edward Darling, is a CD of suggested hymns from the Church Hymnal(5th ed.) to accompany the Lectionary for a Second Service in the Book of Common Prayer 2004.
Psalm-Shaped Prayerfulness
A new liturgical publication comes from Dr Margaret Daly-Denton a former lecturer in biblical studies and liturgy in the Church of Ireland Theological College. Psalm-Shaped Prayerfulness: a Guide to the Christian Reception of the Psalms, published by the Columba Press, seeks to be a guide through the long, and on-going, process of re-interpretation of this important part of Christian worship. The book is intended for, among others, church musicians, members of parish liturgy teams and for those in training for ministry.
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