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Lectionaries (pdf)All Christian churches use the Bible in their worship. However, different churches use it in different ways. Some use a lectionary (a cycle of prescribed readings), some choose their own scripture for use in their congregation (perhaps working their way through a text over a week or a season), and others discern the will of the Spirit in the moment and use whatever texts are thus delivered. Lectionaries are increasing in popularity in churches in the USA for many reasons, one of which is that they are valued as a powerful ecumenical meeting-point. While churches remain divided (by denomination, as well as other factors), the Christian desire for and commitment to unity in Christ can find expression and encouragement in the fact that people are proclaiming the same scripture on the same day, across the lines of division. In Marquand, worship leaders use the Bible in ways that reflect the great diversity of practices in the Christian community. However, because so many of our students come from churches which use lectionaries, we encourage all who participate in worship here to become familiar with the idea of a lectionary and how to find one’s way around one. The question, in such a diverse community as ours, is: which one? Much progress has been made in recent years in streamlining the texts that are read in churches across the world and the main guide for this effort is The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). Knowing that many different sorts of Catholics and Protestants are all hearing and responding to the same Biblical texts on a Sunday morning has done much to foster ecumenical understanding and co-operation. In the USA, the RCL is used (voluntarily, and in locally-adapted forms) by the American Baptist Churches, the Christian Fellowship of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Disciples of Christ, the ELCA, the Episcopal Church in the USA, the Missouri Synod Lutherans, the PC(USA), the RCA, the UCC, the United Methodist Church. Because the RCL is based on the ordo lectionum missae, Roman Catholics are all also using these same texts on these same days. Much progress has also been made in developing lectionaries for particular national or local Christian assemblies, the most far-reaching being the African American lectionary project. It proposes readings for Sundays and some Wednesdays, and highlights African American traditions (such as Revivals) and major pastoral moments in the life of the Black church (such as Grandparents’ Day). More details can be found at: www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/main. Although the African-American lectionary includes readings for Wednesdays, its main focus, like that of the RCL, is Sunday worship. In recent years, a consultation has prepared a daily lectionary to complement the Sunday lectionary (Revised Daily Common Lectionary – RDCL). Its suggested readings are designed to prepare for and then unpack the Sunday readings in the RCL (so Mon, Tue and Wed reflect the previous Sunday’s readings while Thurs, Fri and Sat look forward to the coming Sunday). Other daily lectionaries serve additional purposes (i.e.: not primarily relating daily worship to Sunday worship). Some churches celebrate the Eucharist every day (not just on Sunday) and their lectionary readings reflect this; and some churches have a history of liturgical prayer at several times each day, and their daily lectionary readings reflect this also. The main difference in practical terms is that these daily lectionaries prescribe a gospel (as well as Old Testament, Epistle and Psalm) for each day, whereas the RDCL is centered on Sunday’s gospel and, therefore, uses only non-gospel texts most other days. In Marquand, we do not prescribe which texts are to be used. However, if you would like a guide to the major ecumenical choices for the day, they are posted below. On the left you will see the readings used each day by Roman Catholics, Anglicans and others. On the right you will see the readings suggested by the RDCL.
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