Across the breadth of the Reformed denomination, singing in families is under pressure. In order to keep the rich content of psalms and spiritual songs available for a new generation, the IKC is launching the Singing from the Source project.
Singing is indispensable
"Professing and living the Christian faith through the singing of psalms is essential within the history of the church," board chairman Bert Kalkman knows. "With the songbook of Psalms, we are given words by God Himself to worship, praise and praise Him, lament and express our questions. The psalms reveal who He is and connect generations of Christians. Singing psalms as well as spiritual songs in families is indispensable. Yet we see that singing at the table is becoming less natural. To keep the language of faith that comes to us from psalms and songs understandable for a new generation, the Interchurch Knowledge Centre (IKC) started the project Singing from the Source."
Also for parents who are not musical
Parents from across the Reformed denomination can familiarise their children with psalms and spiritual songs with Singing from the Source. Project leader Marieke Griffioen: "After the summer, the music will become available in phases. The Singing from the Source website will provide parents with tools to make the psalms come alive in the family. Even parents who are not musical or not so familiar with the psalms can thus teach a new generation to sing songs of faith."
Singing from the Source offers not only the psalm rhyming of 1773 and Rev C.J. Meeuse's rhyming, but also the Classical Contemporary Psalm (KEP). This arrangement is a contemporary rhyming of the psalms that stays close to the source text, maintains a consistent line in the whole of the readings and is focused on the heart.
The Classical Contemporary Psalm arrangement is developed by poets and musicians from the Reformed denomination. They are supported by a quality board. This consists of experts in the fields of theology, language and music. The council tests the newly rhymed psalms and hymns before they are made available.
New Psalms and songs monthly
"More often and more openly than before, there are signs that there are concerns across the breadth of church in the Netherlands that the rich content of the psalms will become unintelligible if we do nothing," Griffoen points out. "Therefore, we have thoroughly investigated how this is viewed within church structures. The outcome convinced the IKC that something has to be done. We are doing this with the Singing from the Source project, in which the IKC is making the Classical Contemporary Psalm arrangement and (re-translated) spiritual hymns available to families."
Singing from the Source aims to make new content available monthly. The Interchurch Knowledge Centre (IKC) foundation, source for children's and youth work from the church, depends entirely on donations from individuals, businesses and churches for this project.
