CITY PSALMS is a collaborative songwriting and storytelling project by followers of Jesus across our city, composing original music to foster prayer-for and service-to our community, and sharing stories from the local narrative of God's love-for and pursuit-of the people of Tucson.
ABOUT
INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT
OUR VISION
To see a city come alive with the songs and stories of God's love and purpose for everyone.
OUR MISSION
To tell stories of God's goodness from Tucson's past and write songs of prayer to unite Christians in seeking God for our future.
A PROBLEM
The church in Tucson wants to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to see His kingdom come “on earth as it is in heaven.” But in many ways we don’t have God’s vision or share His heart for our city, and tend to stay safely inside our "four walls." We are often suspicious of working with other churches, we are often failing to serve the least, the last, and the lost in Tucson, and we are not really seeing our city transformed.
A SOLUTION
City Psalms was created to spur followers of Jesus in Tucson toward greater prayer, unity, and service. Modeling a spirit of unity itself, City Psalms is a collective of songwriters, worship leaders, storytellers, and artists from different churches across town who write songs together with two contexts in mind: 1. congregational singing, and 2. personal prayer and reflection. By seeking the character of God’s heart for the city in prayer and song, we want to inspire collaborative action among churches in serving and transforming the city.
A CALL TO ACTION
If you're a follower of Jesus, you can use these songs to stir your hearts to pray for Tucson. If you're a worship leader, consider introducing one or two of these songs into corporate worship. If you're a pastor, we’d love for you to pray about how God might be inviting you and your church into the bigger story we think He’s writing for our city. Consider building relationships with other pastors, and inviting your congregation to participate in any of a number of citywide prayer gatherings and worship services that happen organically across the city throughout the year. You can partner with any number of great faith-based organizations. Or create your own way of loving the city that’s true to the unique fingerprints of your congregation!
LISTEN
CITY PSALMS THREE
City Psalms Three is the third release from the City Psalms Tucson project.
From the liner notes: "Over the past several years our society has experienced widening division. We've also witnessed how Christian unity has the potential to release hope and vision in the midst of fear and disharmony. The Church has a central role to play in these unstable times. The songs on this album express a deep conviction about the barriers that exist between congregations in our city. Martin Luther King, Jr. is famously quoted as saying, "It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o'clock on Sunday morning." Positive change is happening in Tucson and we are resolved to be an answer to Jesus' prayer in John 17 - that we would be one as He and the Father are one."
Track list:
1. The Mountain and the Mission
2. Shake This City
3. In Tucson as It Is in Heaven
4. Break Down the Hard Ground
5. Make Us Ready
6. Borders
7. With Your Love
8. Apostle Anderson's Prayer
9. Season of God's Favor
10. May Our Sons in Youth
Produced by Carl Cherry II
Recorded and Mixed at Joy Studios
Engineered by Darren Boswell
Mixed by Darren Boswell and Carl Cherry II
Mastered by Adam Boose, Cauliflower Audio
CITY PSALMS TWO
City Psalms Two is the second release from the City Psalms Tucson project.
From the liner notes: "We’ve begun to catch glimpses of the Church working together in prayer, service, and love; but it’s not always easy. We’ve found ourselves often skeptical of each other, not given to cooperation and unity. These songs have become an expression of our desire for Jesus to continue healing and remaking each of us in our inmost places, so that His love flows out beyond our four walls, and into the heart of the city we love."
Track list:
1. Let Your Kingdom Come in My Own Heart First
2. Branches
3. The Church and the Steeple
4. Four Walls
5. Across the Desert
6. Covered by Your Grace
7. Let Us Love the Same
8. We Belong
Produced by Mike Almeroth
Recorded and Mixed at Saint Cecilia Studios
Engineered by Steven Lee Tracy and R. Williamson
Mixed by Steven Lee Tracy
Mastered by Adam Boose, Cauliflower Audio
CITY PSALMS ONE (DELUXE EDITION)
City Psalms One (Deluxe Edition) is an expanded, remixed, and remastered release of the first (and now out-of-print) album, City Psalms One.
The liner notes map out the original vision: "These songs are prayers for our hometown, and ideas that challenge us to explore how to be the love of Christ in our city. We hope they encourage and challenge you, too." The overall theme of this collection of songs is waking up to a beautiful, cracked, dry city that needs the love of God and His people, and a direct petition to God to show us how and where to begin.
The Deluxe Edition also includes bonus acoustic versions of six of the songs.
Track list:
1. Hymn For Our Hometown
2. Beneath Our Skin
3. You Love Her So
4. May Our Sons In Youth
5. Into Fear
6. The Mountain and the Mission
7. Show Me How
8. Illuminate
Bonus Tracks:
9. Beneath Our Skin (Acoustic)
10. You Love Her So (Acoustic)
11. May Our Sons In Youth (Acoustic)
12. Into Fear (Acoustic)
13. The Mountain and the Mission (Acoustic)
14. Illuminate (Acoustic)
Produced and Mixed by Mike Almeroth
Recorded at Epicenter Studio and WaveLab Studio
Engineered by Mike Almeroth and Chris Schultz
Mastered by Adam Boose, Cauliflower Audio