Revised Common Lectionary
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The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) is a
Origin
The Revised Common Lectionary was the product of a collaboration between the North American
As in its predecessors, readings are prescribed for each Sunday: a passage typically from the
Also like its predecessors, it runs in three-year cycles; the gospel readings in the first year (Year A) are taken from the Gospel of Matthew, those in the second year (or Year B) from the Gospel of Mark, and in the third year (or Year C) come from the Gospel of Luke. Portions of the Gospel of John are read throughout Eastertide, and are also used for other liturgical seasons including Advent, Christmastide, and Lent where appropriate.
- Year A begins on the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, 2022, 2025, etc.
- Year B begins on the first Sunday of Advent in 2020, 2023, 2026, etc.
- Year C begins on the first Sunday of Advent in 2021, 2024, 2027, etc.
It differs from its Latin predecessor, however, in that—as a result of feedback collected from the participating churches during the trial period—a greater emphasis is given to Old Testament passages and to Wisdom literature.
Scripture usage
The major principle behind the lectionary is that on a Sunday members of congregations should be able to hear the voice of each writer week by week, rather than readings being selected according to a theme. Thus, in any given year the writer of one of the first three gospels will be heard from beginning to end. Likewise the rest of the New Testament is heard, in some cases, virtually in total, in others in large part.
This principle is subject to a number of exceptions. Firstly, different principles apply during the special seasons of the year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter. Here appropriate lections relevant to the season are chosen. The rest of the year, called Ordinary Time, begins in February (after Candlemas) and runs until the Second Sunday before Lent. It then resumes after Pentecost until the Sunday before Advent which is kept as the Feast of Christ the King.
Secondly, because the cycle is three years long, only three of the Gospel writers are given a year.
The treatment given to the
Lastly, there has been a certain amount of editing so that some verses of most books are omitted. Sometimes the omission is simply an introduction to a book; sometimes more substantial material has been excluded, but the overall intention, that of allowing, say, the substance of a biblical writer's thoughts to be read and heard in church, has arguably been achieved at least more substantially than before. There have been arguments over individual editorial judgements and the Church of England, in its use of the RCL, has re-inserted verses, in brackets, which were felt by its Liturgical Commission to be more properly included.
Such is the length of the Scriptural canon that no Sunday lectionary can cover the whole of Scripture without the necessity of very long readings on a Sunday or a longer cycle of years. Sometimes there has to be a choice between telling a long story or omitting it entirely. However, the daily lectionary, devised by the Roman Catholic Church and adopted by the Church of England (among others), provides more material. The CCT has also produced a volume of daily readings.[1]
The Church of England has augmented the RCL by the provision of readings for second and third services. Thus the RCL lectionary is used for the "Principal Service", which often takes the form of a Eucharist, while allowing for additional material at other services which may be Morning and Evening Prayer (though provision is made for either being a Eucharist). Minimal changes to the "Principal Service" have been made in order to preserve its use as an ecumenical lectionary; the most significant of these is in Year B where in Epiphany for three Sundays readings from Revelation replace readings from 1 Corinthians.
Denominational practices
The Revised Common Lectionary is used in its original or an adapted form by churches around the world. The
- United States
- American Baptist Churches, USA
- Church of the Nazarene
- Christian Reformed Church in North America
- Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches
- Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches
- Community of Christ
- Disciples of Christ
- Episcopal Church in the United States of America
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Free Methodist Church
- Grace Communion International
- Anglicantradition
- Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
- Moravian Church in America
- Presbyterian Church USA
- Reformed Church in America
- United Church of Christ
- United Methodist Church
- Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
- Philippines
- Apostolic Catholic Church
- Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches
- Episcopal Church of the Philippines
- Philippine Independent Church
- United Church of Christ in the Philippines
- United Methodist Church in the Philippines
- Australia
- Italy
- Waldensian Evangelical Church
- Italian Methodist Church
- Baptist Evangelical Christian Union of Italy (UCEBI)
- Evangelical Reformed Baptist Churches in Italy
- Hong Kong
- Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong (基督教香港信義會)
- Lutheran Church-Hong Kong Synod (香港路德會)
- Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (香港聖公會)
- Ghana
- Bolivia
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Augsburg Fortress Publishers 2005, p. 7.
- ^ "Gospel-Based Children's Lectionary Curriculum". biblestudymedia.com.
- ^ Callaham 2013.
References
- Callaham, S. N. (2013). "Old Testament Preaching from the Lectionary: Challenge, Case Study, and Reflection". The Expository Times. 124 (12): 582–589. S2CID 170714472.
- Augsburg Fortress Publishers (2005). Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings: Proposed by the Consultation on Common Texts. Augsburg Fortress, Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8066-4930-6.
- Connell, Martin (1998). Guide to the Revised Lectionary. Liturgy Training Publications. ISBN 978-1-56854-256-0.
- Bower, Peter C. (1987). Handbook for the Common Lectionary. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-24048-6.
- Anon (2007). The Revised Common Lectionary. Church Publishing, Inc. GGKEY:BRQ2U3ZHBGR.
- Meyers, Ruth A. (2007). Using the Revised Common Lectionary. Forward Movement.
External links
- Online copy at Vanderbilt University
- Online copy, organized by the calendar, maintained by The Episcopal Church
- Online copy at CBI Facoltà Battista di Teologia (Italian) (dead link, not fully archived in the Internet Archive, see )
- Church of England RCL with readings for second and third services
- New Revised Standard Version RCL passages and resources at United Church of Christ SAMUEL site
- TextWeek.com is a site that lists actual lectionary scripture assignments for several denominations.