Lectionary News

Friends,

I mentioned on Sunday that we will be using a different lectionary than the one we normally use.

You may wonder what a lectionary is. The lectionary is a list of scripture reading for worship on a given day or occasion. We traditionally use the Revised Common Lectionary. The lectionary is a three year cycle with four passages from scripture-Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), psalm, gospel and New Testament. Each year follows one gospel with readings from the Gospel According to John sprinkled in occasionally. This way of reading helps ensure that we cover most of the Bible every three years.

There are other lectionaries in common use. One is called the Narrative Lectionary. It moves through stories in scripture in a slightly different manner than the revised common lectionary. Many pastors will do a "lectio continua" which is following one book in the bible verse by verse. This Epiphany season, we are using a new lectionary written by my Hebrew Bible professor and Episcopalian priest Dr. Wil Gafney.

Dr. Gafney's lectionary centers on women's stories to frame the presentation of scriptures for preaching and teaching. This means that she has grouped the four readings in such a way that they lift up the women in scripture. You would be amazed at how many women are represented in scripture. There are far more than Mary the mother of Jesus and they are just as vital to our faith story as anyone else.

Dr. Gafney has also chosen many names and descriptors for God that may sound strange to our ears. That is ok. In fact, it is probably a very good thing. We should not dare to become to comfortable with our image of God. God is so much bigger and more awesome than we can imagine. It is wise to approach the Divine with care.

I hope you enjoy this step into a different way of thinking about scripture.