The Common Lectionary
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church is a Lectionary based church.
The Common Lectionary is an ecumenical resource that was developed in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Among other things, the Council expanded the range of scripture readings at the Catholic Mass and moved them from a one-year to a three-year cycle. Each Sunday is assigned an Old Testament lesson, an Epistle/New Testament lesson, and a Gospel reading; a psalm was featured as well. When Protestants grasped the rich opportunities that the Lectionary offered for worship and preaching, they eagerly adopted it. Today, several churches, including the Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and United Methodist churches, use the Lectionary.
Adopting the Common Lectionary was a watershed event at St. Paul’s and it has shaped the form and content of worship ever since. Hymns, prayers, anthems, and sermons all take on a unity that is centered on the readings for the day. The Lectionary provides a balance in preaching and worship, ensuring that the major themes of the Christian faith are addressed each year. The Lectionary offers a universal dimension to each week’s worship since so many traditions use the same scriptures. Even Bible study materials have been developed using the Lectionary format.
St. Paul’s adopted the Lectionary while it was still in trial use in Methodist churches. In fact, we were one of the first United Methodist churches in the United States to use the Lectionary on a Sunday-by-Sunday basis. Please click to the left to see the Lectionary readings for the current year.