The Presbyterian Church in Ireland will explore the experiences of victims and first responders during the Troubles, through a new suite of hymns.
The collection of eight psalms and liturgies was written by Rev Dr Karen Campbell and her husband, David.
Considering Lament: Psalms of protest, pain and hope will be performed for the first time at a special public service on 26 March, at PCI’s Assembly Buildings in Belfast.
Dr Campbell, a former County Antrim minister, said it was a “special honour” to “accompany people in their pain, listen to their stories and make sense of suffering through the lens of scripture.”
She hopes they will “provide honest words to speak before God when our own words fail us.”
Dr Campbell also noted that modern worship has a tendency to avoid lament.
“By recovering the practice of lament, it gives space in our worship for marginalised voices to speak their pain to God and reconnect with the God who is ever compassionate and loving,” she said.
They form part of a decade-long PCI project, which began with Considering Grace: Presbyterians and the Troubles, a 2019 book collecting stories from 120 Presbyterians about their memories of the Troubles.
The new suite of psalms builds on this work, drawing from eight regional focus groups across Northern Ireland, who helped shape the wording and themes of each song.
Each group studied a Psalm of Lament that mirrored their local experiences—such as Psalm 64 in County Armagh, reflecting the threat of ambush, or Psalm 82 in areas marked by unresolved feelings of injustice.
The project also included perspectives from the nationalist community and young people growing up during the peace process.
“We will sing these psalms together,” Dr Campbell said. “We will listen to stories, and identify the sound of reconciliation in the midst of the deepest wounds.”