The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship

The Kavanagh Lecture, presented by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, is named for the late Professor Emeritus of Liturgics Aidan J. Kavanagh O.S.B., and given in conjunction with Convocation Week at Yale Divinity School.

This year's speaker is John D. Witvliet, the director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and professor of worship, theology, and congregational and ministry studies at Calvin College.

Lecture: The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship: Overlapping Scripts in the Unfolding Drama of Liturgical Performance."

The talk describes a sampling of the multiple ways that the biblical Psalms function within the script of Christian worship in the West, exploring how rubrics, formal and informal liturgical gestures, and musical motifs frame the reception of the biblical text. It draws on examples across the spectrum of denominational traditions, and asks how recent biblical scholarship might inform and challenge emerging work on the Psalms in liturgy, preaching, pastoral care, education, and Christian witness.

John Witvliet is director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and serves as professor of music and worship at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary, respectively. He also teaches in the religion department at Calvin College. His areas of interest include the history of Christian worship, worship practices in various denominations, biblical and systematic theology of worship, the role of music and the arts in worship, and consulting with churches on worship renewal.

A graduate of Calvin College, Dr. Witvliet holds graduate degrees in theology from Calvin Theology Seminary, in choral music from the University of Illinois, and the Ph.D. in liturgical studies and theology from the University of Notre Dame.

Witvliet is the author of numerous books about Christian worship.