Preaching by Lectionary...Continued from page 1

One of the greatest strengths of lectionary preaching is that that the preacher is freed from the sometimes agonizing job of dis­cerning what text to use for the upcoming Sunday. In addition, the preacher doesn’t have to sit down every few months to plan a schedule of texts to preach on because the various lectionaries are already complete, functioning on the basis of a cyclical calendar. An added benefit of having four passages from Scripture to choose from is that a preacher could choose to preach any given Sunday, or series of Sundays, from an expository, textual or topical approach depending on the Spirit’s leading and the congregation’s needs.

With a lectionary in place, congregants can read the upcoming Sunday’s text ahead of time and engage in personal, family, or small group study of the passages. This provides a way for your people to already be engaged with the selected Biblical texts before you even begin to preach on them.

Also, considering the sheer amount of Biblical illiteracy across the Kingdom, the lectionary systematically exposes people to varied contents of the Bible. Perhaps even more so than typical expository preaching, the lectionary method forces the preacher to engage with texts that he or she might not normally gravitate toward.

One of the major weaknesses of lectionary preaching is that a particular set of Sunday readings may not be the most relevant for a particular time in your con­gregation’s life. In this case the answer is to deviate from the lectionary readings for that particular Sunday. Another negative temptation for the lectionary preacher is to simply bypass a difficult text by preaching on an “easier text” in the selected passages.

In addition, the sheer amount of Scripture that is offered in the lectionary can sometimes cause the preacher to try to cover too much exegetical ground in too short a time. Remember that most lec­tionary sermons are shorter in length than sermons given in non-liturgical settings because of the other elements of the wor­ship service.

All in all, the pitfalls of the lectionary can be overcome by sensible deviation from the lectionary when needed. Preachers also do well to focus on one particular theme from the selected texts or to preach on only one of the readings, the Gospel reading being the most popular in this particular approach.

Lectionary Usefulness for Non-Liturgical Preachers

Even if you don’t preach in a liturgical setting, the lectionary still can provide you several benefits beyond those listed above. Using a lectionary in a non-liturgical church could be one way of increasing the amount of Scripture people are exposed to during a Sunday morning service. Selected passages from the lectionary could be read by lay leaders in the church to emphasize that the Word of God is something everyone should be engaged in reading and proclaiming.

Further, an entire church’s daily Bible reading could be based on the lectionary so that everyone is reading the same Scripture passages in their personal devotional time. Additionally, study groups, children’s and youth ministries could base their Bible teaching on the lectionary as well so that the entire congregation is being systemati­cally immersed in the Scriptures.

It’s also possible to incorporate elements of the Christian year into a non-liturgical worship setting. I served on the pastoral staff of a church which was essentially non-liturgical but incorporated elements of the Christian year into its simple praise and preaching services. Be creative and find the ways that the great thematic elements of the Christian year can be incarnated into your congregation’s unique setting.

Preaching by lectionary is the most ancient and most widely used method  for preaching across the world. It finds its roots in the ancient Christians traditions. Today Roman Catholics, the Orthodox Churches, plus many Anglican and Protestant denominations engage in use of the lectionary, uniting all of their local churches in a common engagement of God’s Word.

Regardless of whether your local church is non-liturgical, denominational or independent, there is something from the lectionary that you can incorporate into your preaching ministry that God will use to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.

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Kevin Goodrich O.P. is an Anglican Dominican Priest and Pastor of Grace Episcopal Church in Jamestown, ND.