At last June's General Convention, one resolution was passed which is designed to improve ecumenical relations by having more of the major Christian denominations read the same scripture passages on Sunday. To that end, the Episcopal Church has decided to move from our own lectionary to what is called the Revised Common Lectionary. As you probably know, a lectionary is a set schedule of Bible readings - from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the New Testament excluding the Gospels (called the 'Epistle' reading), and the Gospels. By following the lectionary, which is a three-year Sunday cycle and a two-year daily cycle, we read through most of the Bible over three years. The Episcopal Church has its own lectionary, which can be found in the back of the prayer book (pp. 889-920), and gradually over the years, many Protestant denominations, such as the Lutherans, the Methodists, and the Presbyterians, have also started using the lectionary model. Those denominations and others have gradually decided on the Revised Common Lectionary, which is close to the Episcopal lectionary, but not exactly the same. Thus, starting in Advent of 2007 (and Year A in our lectionary), the whole Episcopal Church has decided to join the other denominations in the Revised Common Lectionary use. However, Bishop Curry has asked North Carolina parishes to start a year early, and thus we will begin using the new lectionary on Advent 1 of this year, December 3rd, which is the beginning of lectionary year C. The new readings in our bulletins will be slightly different than what is currently in our prayer books. But all changes can be followed on the lectionary website: http://www.io.com/~kellywp/, and any questions may be directed to the clergy.

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