I created this blog as a place to record my notes and reflections from various ministries I’m involved in at Trinity Christian Reformed Church in Ames, Iowa. It’s named after one of my favorite hymns.

Most of my posts are of three types:

• Posts about hymns based on Psalms. Each of these posts is an overview of all the songs based on a particular Psalm that can be found in CRC hymnals, with a focus on Lift Up Your Hearts (our new CRC hymnal) and Psalms for All Seasons (a CRC hymnal consisting entirely of Psalm songs). I generated these posts from notes I made for (1) our Psalms for All Seasons Sunday school class (Fall 2013 & Spring 2014); (2) our Exploring our Hymnals Sunday school class (Fall 2014), (3) our 2015 Summer book club on Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction; and (4) worship planning.
• Other posts about CRC hymnody, including posts about different sections of Lift Up Your Hearts (from our Exploring our Hymnal class) and other thoughts about the new hymnal.
• Posts sharing art from two Sunday school classes I co-taught with Naomi Friend: Minor Prophets (Fall 2012) and Parables of Jesus (Spring 2013). In each of these posts, I share the original drawing Naomi made during the class. In the Parables of Jesus posts, I share links to other parables art and favorite musical selections—a set of resources for teaching an art- and music-based Parables of Jesus class.

Other posts may be connected to my other ministries at Trinity: worship planning, Children & Worship, Summer Book Club, our high school Sunday school class (beginning fall 2015), and Areopagus (our campus ministry at Iowa State University). They may also touch upon some of my other interests: gender & the Bible, the intersection of religion and academia, CRC synodical meetings, and such.

Anyone who is interested in these esoteric topics is welcome to join the discussion.

The blog’s banner is from Naomi Friend’s drawing of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids (AKA Parable of the Ten Virgins) and the Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree. The five wise bridesmaids are climbing onto the bus to Future Boulevard. Three of the Foolish Bridesmaids are visible; two are window shopping while another is buying coffee. The barren fig tree is in the center.

— David Schweingruber

Abbreviations

I’m in the habit of listing hymns with their numbers from each of the CRC hymnals in which they appear, using this code:

LUYH = Lift Up Your Hearts (2013), the new CRC hymnal

PFAS = Psalms for All Seasons, A Complete Psalter for Worship (2012)

PH87 = Psalter Hymnal (Gray) (1987), the main CRC hymnal before Lift Up Your Hearts

SNC = Sing! A New Creation (2001), a supplement to the 1987 Psalter Hymnal

PH57 = Psalter Hymnal (Blue) (1957), the CRC hymnal that preceded the 1987 Psalter Hymnal

HFW = Hymns for Worship (2010), an ecumenical “greatest hits” collection of 256 hymns in chronological order

SNT = Singing the New Testament (2008), a collection of 260 songs connected to specific New Testament Passages

SWM = Sing With Me (2006), a children’s Sunday School songbook