Liturgical question
Can y'all help me identify the following:
- The different lectionaries used around the Anglican Communion (I know the RCL is the main one but I want to know if there are others and, if so, where they are used).
- The different calendars in the Anglican Communion (for example, I know the CofE and the ECUSA have different calendars but that the ECUSA and the AC of Canada have essentially the same calendar)
I realize there are simple and complex responses to both of these points and I would like to hear them all!
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Comments
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The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey contains a list of the various books authorized world wide. They are the primary source for the calendars which have a common core with regional variations. When there is no calendar in the prayer book it can generally be gotten online or from the publishing arm of the specific church. If there are specific calendars which you cannot find this way, I may have the connections to track them down.
All Anglicans use at least 2 lectionaries - one for the main Sunday service and one daily Morning/Evening Prayer lectionary. The daily, if I remember correctly, is closely related to the equivalent Lutheran lectionary or the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours with some modifications - there are also variations by order the Anglican OSF being popular. The Sunday "main service" is frequently a choice between the traditional 1 year lectionary (Catholic/Anglican/Lutheran) or the RCL 3 year cycle.
Some of the churches have not included their lectionary in their ritual books but rather expect one to buy an annual Ordo/Diary. These can be tracked down in the same manner. as the calendars. The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey can simplify this by identifying where the choice of one church is replicated in other churches e.g. Japan uses the same readings as the American church.
The Joint Liturgical Group has created some lectionaries, most notably a four year cycle, which have some use at least in England. I don't know if the (Old) Common Lectionary, a predecessor of the RCL, has any current use.
I have a few lectionaries created by individuals which I know have been tested in Anglican churches but I don't know their "canonical" status. These cover specific concerns such as:
- catechetical vs mature Christian readings
- replacement of anti-Semitic readings
- a more feminist/environment touch
- an additional year for the Gospel of John
Anyway, I've not kept up with the changes in the last few years so my advice is:
- make a list of all churches in the Anglican communion
- find the web site for each
- from the web site gather information on (a) ritual books (b) calendar (c) lectionaries ... at least per church (Sunday/Morning-Evening) ... some have more services and/or more options for lectionaries
- read The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey
- then the remaining questions should be targeted in a manner that would allow me to suggest the next step.
- pull your hair out trying to get Logos to understand why a single lectionary does not reflect the usage of most lectionary users.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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An actual title from the Joint Liturgical Group:
- Four Year Lectionary JLG2 ed. G Tellini, Canterbury Press 1990 (978-1853110214)
- website: http://www.jlg.org.uk/index.shtml
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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If you'd like to push your Lutheran counter-part:
let's try the Open Source Lectionary http://opensourcelectionary.com/
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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If you want to track changes within the RCL: Paschaltide Readings from the Old Testament http://www.englishtexts.org/easter.html
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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- make a list of all churches in the Anglican communion
- find the web site for each
- from the web site gather information on (a) ritual books (b) calendar (c) lectionaries ... at least per church (Sunday/Morning-Evening) ... some have more services and/or more options for lectionaries
- read The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey
- then the remaining questions should be targeted in a manner that would allow me to suggest the next step.
- pull your hair out trying to get Logos to understand why a single lectionary does not reflect the usage of most lectionary users.
Thanks for all this, MJ, I'm just beginning to work through this list. I haven't played with the new lectionary function for PBs in 5.1 but I suspect this will be quite useful going forward.
I'll let you know when I'm at step 5!
Senior Director, Content Products
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