Advent

The Episcopal Church of the USA (ECUSA) decided at its last general convention to adopt the Revised Common Lectionary cycle. This RCL as it is called is an ecumenical cycle of reading that puts our readings or lectionary in line with other liturgical church traditions and offers us a larger cross section of readings in its three year cycle than we have experienced.

Below is information provided by The Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers, liturgist and member of the national Episcopal Church liturgical commission: 

“How does the RCL compare with the 1979 Book of Common Prayer Lectionary? The RCL follows the same three year pattern as the current lectionary in the Prayer Book. Very few changes have been made to the appointed gospels.  There is more variation in the selections from the Old Testament and epistles…Following the lead of the Roman Catholic lectionary, both the 1979 Prayer Book and the Revised Common Lectionary assign a different gospel to each year in the three year cycle: Year A is the year of  Matthew; Year B, Mark and Year C, Luke. John appears during Christmas Lent and Easter.

The major difference between the lectionaries comes in the Hebrew Scripture readings…” We will have a wider variety of readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and more options to choose from. 

There is a far more detailed explanation of the RCL if you would like to learn more. You can find Ruth Meyer’s full tract on the RCL in our track rack in the hallway. Her pamphlet on the RCL is called, Using the Revised Common Lectionary.