"Isaac Everett's Emergent Psalter is clearly a work of love. Springing from the life of a young, emergent congregation, it embodies the best of old and new, and it is a sign of maturity in our important movement." ―Tony Jones, author of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier Many alternative and emerging church communities have begun exploring ancient music and liturgical traditions despite a lack of high-quality, published liturgical music, which does not require (or even desire) an organ and a four-part choir. The Emergent Psalter serves as a valuable resource. The psalter itself consists of musically notated antiphon melodies with chord symbols, followed by the printed psalm text, which is read aloud. Featuring music written for two emerging communities (Transmission in New York and Church of the Apostles in Seattle), this book is an excellent resource for anyone producing an alternative worship service or thinking of starting one. "One would expect a liturgical psalter with the word Emergent in the title to be a study in contrasts and it doesn't disappoint. Isaac is a scholar who understands and appreciates the tradition of psalm singing in the life of the church, but he is also eager to present psalmody in a style that is accessible. He is deeply aware of the interpretive power of musical sound but also wants tunes that worshipers will grasp intuitively. He respects the tradition of the liturgical use of psalms over the course of the Christian year but provides a resource that is flexible. Worship planners in a wide variety of cultural contexts will find The Emergent Psalter a very useful tool." ―The Rev. Dr. Clayton L. Morris, Former Staff Officer for Liturgical and Spiritual Resources, The Episcopal Church Center "In keeping with many in the emerging church, Isaac has turned back to the tradition to bring something out of the treasure house of tradition and given it his own contemporary flavour. This Psalter is a huge piece of work, a labour of love. The Psalms continue to be a wonderful repertoire for worship covering a range of themes in liturgy and song that many modern song books simply avoid. I hope this Psalter helps them live again in many Christian communities." ―Jonny Baker "Isaac Everett's Emergent Psalter is clearly a work of love. Springing from the life of a young, emergent congregation, it embodies the best of old and new, and it is a sign of maturity in our important movement." ―Tony Jones, author of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier "The Emergent Psalter invites lovers of liturgy and its renewal, regardless of their faith, to discover an ancient poem sung as a new song. Isaac Everett's passion for the psalms is matched by his careful attention to scholarly detail." ―Amichai Lau-Lavie, Executive Director, Storahtelling, Inc. Isaac Everett is an artist-in-residence at the Church of the Epiphany in New York, a company member of Storahtelling, and the co-founder of Transmission, an underground church in New York City. The Emergent Psalter By Isaac Everett Church Publishing Copyright © 2009 Isaac Everett All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-89869-617-2 Contents Acknowledgments......................................................................viiNew Traditionalism in the Emerging Church............................................1A Brief History of Psalms and Antiphons..............................................3Goals for the Psalter................................................................7Psalm 22: A Psalm of Individual Lament...............................................11Psalm 23: A Psalm of Confidence......................................................14Psalm 119: A Torah Psalm.............................................................18Psalm 148: A Psalm of Praise.........................................................22Book I...............................................................................27Book II..............................................................................94Book III.............................................................................144Book IV..............................................................................176Book V...............................................................................206Bibliography.........................................................................277 Chapter One New Traditionalism in the Emerging Church In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in ancient forms of liturgy and spiritual practice, especially within the emergent church, although analogous trends are occurring within Roman Catholicism, Evangelical Protestantism, and even American Judaism and Islam. My generation has been given credit for the renewal of all sorts of liturgical practices, including lectio divina , praying the rosary, and consulting spiritual directors. As a recent article in U.S. News and World Rep