At last!
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At last!

Three months ago, I wrote of my decades-long effort to set the Psalms to verse so that they could be sung to their proper Genevan melodies. This began in the mid-1980s when I was around 30 years old. But I had already been inspired by Calvin Seerveld’s versification of Genevan Psalm 128 in the late…

Lectio Divina
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Lectio Divina

The elder googled it, thought it sounded like a new age mystical practice and suggested I not choose the topic of lectio divina for their adult education. That response was reason enough, so I introduced them to this way of reading Scripture, which the church has practiced for 1500 years with the encouragement of monks,…

The Genevan Psalms
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The Genevan Psalms

Two months ago in this space I recounted the story behind my longstanding interest in the biblical Psalter and its liturgical use. In the mid 1980s I came across the Genevan Psalter, with which I had previously not had much contact. My childhood church sang largely from the 1912 Psalter, with a very few Genevan…

Praying the Psalms
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Praying the Psalms

As a young man living and studying in Minnesota, I accidentally stumbled upon a form of prayer extending back to the early church and into biblical times. I was browsing in the bookstore of Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul and found a red paper-bound volume titled The Daily Office, with a lengthy subtitle: “Matins…

Why?
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Why?

I imagine setting up a table in the student union with a sign that just asks “Why?” Part of the mission of Geneva Campus Ministry at the University of Iowa is to help students explore this question. The university gives the students knowledge and helps them develop skills but often ignores the fundamental question of…

Come hungry
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Come hungry

We’re all hungry. Some are hungry for literal food. We might be hungry for the social engagement of eating together. COVID has prompted hunger for many aspects of life. We hunger for communion – with people and with God. God promises a banquet. In my high school we had Junior/Senior Banquets, not proms. We could…

An Exercise In Hope For All
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An Exercise In Hope For All

Rev. Dr. Esau McCaulley is an assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, a priest in the Anglican Church of North America, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. He has served in a number of professional and cultural contexts throughout his academic and ministerial careers. Rev. McCaulley’s ecclesiastical experiences include…