Dear Volunteers and Friends of the Critical Edition of the Hebrew Psalter Project:

We write you with heavy hearts. We have just learned last week that our federally funded grant through the National Endowment for the Humanities to produce the Critical Edition of the Hebrew Psalter was summarily terminated without warning by the US federal government. The long and short of this terrible news is that Drew’s position at Duke University must end because there is no longer funding for it, and Brent’s research leave to work on the project is immediately over as well.

This is obviously a major blow to the project and its timely completion. We wanted you to hear it from us, first, before learning of it some other way. We will appeal the decision with the NEH, but we do not expect the appeal to be successful. We are presently considering alternative funding sources, but we have no clear immediate prospects for continuing the research at its previous pace. Drew will need to be seeking regular employment elsewhere, and Brent will be occupied once again full time with teaching and service responsibilities. It seems that the work on the CEHP will, therefore, slow down considerably; indeed it may be on a long hiatus barring some unexpected benevolence.

We are, again, very sorry to report this news. We could never thank each of you enough for all you’ve done for this project and for us. We are forever grateful and we remain committed to bringing this work to completion as opportunity allows. We are convinced it is of great importance for biblical studies, Bible translation, and larger communities of faith, and we also wish to honor the work our volunteers and supporters have done. Indeed, one of the things that makes us most upset about this termination is that it is not just a cancellation of two researchers at a university somewhere. It is a cancellation of the work of some 200 volunteers drawn from across the world—indeed from every continent on the planet except Antarctica. Thankfully, none of that transcription work will be lost, but for the foreseeable future we will be considerably limited in our ability to manage new transcription work and construct the edition itself.

So please accept our heartfelt thanks for your help and service. We welcome your prayers and any suggestions or advice you might offer as we ponder our next steps. If you wish to stay involved with CEHP and help us continue toward our shared goals, we would be happy to know that as well.

Yours sincerely,

Brent and Drew