Revised Common Lectionary of the Episcopal Church
Sometimes you will hear members talking about the lectionary. The lectionary is a book that lists the readings for Sundays and a few main feast days. The Episcopal Church is now using the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) which will cause us to read the greater part of the Bible in three years. Year A (beginning Advent 1995, 1998, 2001...) concentrates on the Gospel of Matthew, while Year B focuses on the Gospel of Mark, and Year C on Luke. The Gospel of John is read chiefly around Christmas, Lent and Easter, and during Year B, because Mark is shorter than the other two Synoptic Gospels. Readings from the rest of the New Testament, the Old Testament and the Psalms round out the selection for each week. Sometimes readings from the Apocryphal / Deutero-Canonical books appear in the lectionary. When this occurs, there is always an alternative reading from the Old Testament. The term lectionary can be applied both to the schedule of readings (as used here), or to the readings themselves, generally published in book form. Various denominational publishers make the readings available as a single book or in leaflet form for distribution to congregations
Beginning on First Advent Sunday 2007 (December 2nd), the widely used Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) will replace the current Episcopal Eucharistic Lectionary, found in The Book of Common Prayer (BCP). At the Episcopal General Convention in 2006, the RCL was adopted as the standard lectionary of the Episcopal Church. This move by the Episcopal Church is truly an ecumenical move due to the broad array of churches that utilize the RCL. There are many positive outcomes due to the move, such as a more inclusive role of women in salvation history, a truly ecumenical lectionary shared by most protestant denominations, as well as more continuity within the great Old Testament narratives. Most new resources for preaching, teaching and the planning of worship are already being developed for the RCL. The RCL preserves around 90% of the Gospel readings in the Book of Common Prayer lectionary. For further information regarding this change please see: Revised Common Lectionary Brochure. It is a 3 MB pdf file (for a two page document) so be patient while it downloads! If that link does not work, please go to the Diocese of Texas website, www.epicenter.org Under the Christian Formation tab, go to Sacramental Resources, then at the bottom of this page click on Revised Common Lectionary Brochure. St. Matthew’s has a hard copy of the RCL available for you to utilize. You can also find an electronic copy of the RCL at this website: divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/.