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The Revised Common
Lectionary (RCL)
Download the RCL.
Download
the Introduction to the Revised Common Lectionary
What is a Lectionary?
A lectionary is a collection of readings or selections from the
Scriptures, arranged and intended for proclamation during the worship of
the people of God. Lectionaries were known and used in the fourth
century, where major churches arranged the Scripture readings according
to a schedule which follows the calendar of the church's year.
This practice of assigning particular readings to each Sunday and
festival has continued through the history of the Christian Church.
Why use a lectionary?
- A lectionary provides whole churches or denominations with a uniform
and common pattern of biblical proclamation.
- A lectionary serves as a guide for clergy, preachers, church
members, musicians, and Sunday school teachers that shows them which
texts are to be read on a given Sunday.
- A lectionary provides a guide and resource for clergy from
different local churches who wish to work and pray together as they
share their resources and insights while preparing for their
preaching.
- A lectionary serves as a resource for those who produce
ecumenical preaching aids, commentaries, Sunday school curricula,
and other devotional aids.
- A lectionary provides a guide to individuals and groups who wish
to read, study, and pray the Bible in tune with the church's prayer
and preaching. Some local churches print the references to the
following Sunday's readings in their bulletins and encourage people
to come prepared for the next week's celebration.
- A lectionary also shows us the relationship of the readings of
one Sunday with those that come before it and after it. Within
each of the major seasons of Lent, Easter, Advent, and
Christmas-Epiphany, the flow of the season is reflected in all the
Scripture texts, taken together as a set for each Sunday.
What is the Revised Common Lectionary?
This lectionary system is the work of two ecumenical bodies who provide
resources for the churches that send representatives to them, namely,
the North American Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) and, later, the
International English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC).
Responding to widespread interest in the Roman Lectionary for Mass
of 1969, many North American churches undertook adaptations and
revisions of it for their own use during the '70s. CCT produced a
harmonization and reworking of these in 1983 on a trial basis and then
revised that for publication in 1992 as the Revised Common Lectionary.
Find out more about using the
the Revised Common Lectionary
Which churches use the Revised Common Lectionary?
Worldwide usage of the Revised Common Lectionary
What are the copyright issues?
Revised Common Lectionary Permissions Policy
Where can I go for more information?
Contact the
CCT
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