Western Lectionaries:
An Introduction
By Andy Langford

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A lectionary is a calendar of the Christian year and a table of scripture readings. In other words, a lectionary creates a pattern to structure a Christian life on a temporal calendar, and provides a sequence of Bible passages to flesh out the calendar.

Lectionaries have existed from the first four centuries of the church. In Egypt, Syria, and Western Europe, Christians created lectionaries to give order to the Christian life. Lectionaries do not replace the reading of the whole Bible, but give structures through which scripture might be more fully understood.

The Christian calendar came first. The earliest Christians first celebrated Easter, then Pentecost, then Epiphany, then Christmas, then Lent and Advent, and finally other special days that rounded out the Christian year. Obviously, each of these days had associated readings from the Bible, and thus the lectionary took shape.

By the fourth century, the Western lectionary took the shape that most English-speaking Christians in the West would recognize. The lectionary of the Eastern church is quite different and requires another article altogether. Today, there are multiple lectionaries that range from one year to six years and cover the Christian year and reading of Scripture in significantly different ways. For example, the ecumenical Adult Bible Study Series used by many mainline Protestant churches in the United States is a six-year lectionary. Some British churches are now experimenting with a four-year lectionary in which one of the four Gospels is read in each of the four years.

There are daily lectionaries, as well, such as that found in the Book of Common Prayer (Anglican/Episcopal), or those utilized by groups such as The Upper Room or by "whole Bible in one year" publications.

Lectionaries provide unity in worship but not uniformity. As each congregation reads the same lesson on the same day, we become one with one another. Every congregation, however, will celebrate the lessons in different ways with different music and different sermons. While all Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians use the lectionary each week, other denominations like United Methodists use it about 70% of the time, and most Southern Baptists would never consider using one.

There are in the United States two major lectionaries. The first was the Roman Lectionary for the Mass created in 1969 after Vatican II and then revised in 1981. This lectionary is the lectionary used by Roman Catholics and is essentially the same lectionary that one finds in the Episcopal and Lutheran books of worship. The Roman Lectionary is a three year calendar that essentially bases each Sunday on a particular Gospel lesson, and then chooses an Epistle reading, and Old Testament reading based on the Gospel reading. The Psalm is always a response to the Old Testament reading.

The second major lectionary is The Revised Common Lectionary created by an ecumenical liturgical group called the Consultation on Common Texts. This was first published in 1983 and revised in 1992. This lectionary is essentially the same lectionary that one finds in the United Methodist, Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, United Church of Canada, and other denominations in the United States, plus a number of other churches in English-speaking nations including South Africa, Australia, and Singapore.

The major assumptions behind both lectionaries are:

1. intended for the weekly Lord’s Day celebration, plus several special holy days;

2. includes three readings plus a psalm as a response to the Old Testament;

3. affirms the Western calendar of two Christological cycles: Easter and Christmas;

4. three-year pattern: Year A, Matthew; Year B, Mark; Year C, Luke; with John used during the high holy days in all three years;

5. includes a significant number of Bible readings.

The Revised Common Lectionary, however, as a revision of the Roman Lectionary has one major difference. The Revised Common Lectionary believes that the Roman Lectionary does not treat the Old Testament as a significant document except through the lens of the Gospels. Instead, the RCL reads the Old Testament in the Sundays of Ordinary Time (after Epiphany and after Pentecost) in semi-continuous ways that respect the Old Testament as a way to God. For example, in the first year of the lectionary, Year A, the RCL reads stories from the creation, to the patriarchs, to Moses, and finally to Deborah. Many of these stories are simply never read in the Roman Lectionary.

In addition, the Revised Common Lectionary also:

1. is based on the New Revised Standard Version for its versification;

2. keeps more pericopes (passages) together;

3. includes significantly more passages that include women, such as Sarah; and

4. has completely revised the psalms as responses to the Old Testament;

Some day, God willing, all the lectionaries will be unified. Until then, may a thousand flowers bloom.

Andy Langford is a United Methodist pastor serving a 1400-member suburban congregation outside Charlotte, North Carolina.  He has authored ten books and served as Editor of The Revised Common Lectionary. He served on the committee that oversaw the development of The United Methodist Hymnal (1989) and he edited The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992). andylangford@ststephenumc.net

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