CONSIDERING LAMENT: Psalms of Protest, Pain and Hope

This is an evening to launch and sing through the newly composed suite of Psalms of lament based on the experiences of victims and first responders to The Troubles. In addition to a team of musicians who will guide us through the Psalm singing, there will be stories from different regional focus groups identifying the sound of reconciliation in the midst of deep wounds.

Each Psalm represents the work of one focus group from locations like: Armagh, Ballymena, Bangor, Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, Dungannon and Omagh.

We will hear the story of how each Psalm was composed, as well as first-hand stories from people with close proximity to The Troubles. We will consider questions like the role of lament in our worship as well as some of the more challenging questions raised through the imprecatory Psalms, eg, how we pray for our enemies.

Ultimately this is an evening reminding us of the brokenness in our society pointing us to the hope of singing our pain before the God of justice.

Free copies of the Considering Lament Psalm booklet will be made available at the event.

The Psalms and the recordings will be made available on the PCI website after the launch. There will also be opportunities to purchase further copies of the booklet.

Please encourage friends, musicians, singers, organists and music directors to come and receive a resource that will hopefully enrich the worship in your congregation.

The project was supported by the Irish Government Department for Foreign Affairs Reconciliation which funded the hymn writing and recording costs. Additional support came from Calvin Institute, Benefact and the Irish Council of Churches. We are very thankful to Dr Stephen Quay for ensuring that the music was mixed and mastered.

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Host or Publisher Presbyterian Church in Ireland