New feature: daily lectionary readings

A new link at right opens a new window with the lectionary readings for the week (Monday through Sunday). What is a lectionary, you may ask, and why have you gone to all the trouble to add this to your website?

A lectionary is a list of readings (Psalms, old testament, epistles and gospel) which cover the whole Bible over a three year cycle. A common lectionary is shared by churches so that on a given Sunday, Christians all over the world are reading the same passages.

The current lectionary, the Revised Common Lectionary, was drafted by a committee and adopted by another committee. Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Library website includes the complete Revised Common Lectionary along with the details.

Once upon a time I felt the need for a guide to daily scripture reading. At various times I had used the American Bible Society’s daily readings, which may still be available. But I wanted readings that followed the lectionary.

I was disappointed that The Upper Room, the devotional booklet published by the United Methodist Church, does not follow the lectionary, and for several years I looked for something that did, but I was not able to find anything.

I am not a very good researcher and I may have missed something or there may be something available now. But one day I mentioned my search to Elizabeth Thompson, who was then our pastor. Elizabeth gave me a xerox copy of a “Trial Daily Lectionary” which she had been given as a student at Duke. I decided to use it.

My first task was to figure out what year we were (Years A, B, or C) and to assign dates to the readings so I could follow it. That was back in the era when my Macintosh was new, and I proceeded to scan in my photocopies and experiment, importing my text into various formats. I finally wound up with a spreadsheet version, and each year I would copy the appropriate year, fill in the dates and print it out.

This was a lot of work, but once I decide to do something I generally forge ahead.

The trial lectionary was the work of Hoyt Hickman, and it included an introduction which explains why the project was started and how it was done. Dr. Hickman went on to say that this was a draft and they were glad to distribute it, with permission, for trial use, but feedback was requested.

When I contacted Dr. Hickman a couple of years later for permission to publish the lectionary on my website, he explained that it had already been published by the Order of Saint Luke, an organization devoted to liturgical worship, and referred me to them. He kindly included a copy of the published version. [The Daily Lectionary: A Guide for Using the Scriptures within the Daily Office, The Daily Office, Volume Six, Copyright © 2001, The Order of Saint Luke, PO Box 22279, Akron OH 44302-0079.]

The final version included two readings for each day, and was nothing like the trial version. The trial version, which I preferred to continue using, was apparently in limbo. I did not publish it on my site.

Why am I publishing the trial version now?

I have continued to use this trial version for the past several years because it still meets my needs, and the lure of technology is strong. I can now load each week’s readings into my database and have it come up according to the date. The next time the cycle comes around I can update the calendar dates and continue to use it. So I have decided to make it available, posted with source information. I will remove the link if I am asked to.