Daily Lectionary

What is the Lectionary?

Throughout the year, the Massachusetts Conference produces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. Many churches distribute this resource in their newsletters or through links on their websites.

The practice of using a Lectionary to assign particular Scripture readings to each Sunday and festival day (ie Christmas) dates back to the fourth century, and has continued through the history of the Christian Church.

In 1992, the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) – an ecumenical consultation of liturgical scholars and denominational representatives from the United States and Canada, including some from the United Church of Christ – produced the Revised Common Lectionary. In 2005, the CCT published the Revised Common Lectionary DAILY Readings, which provides weekday readings that relate to the Sunday Scripture lessons. Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday reading, and Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect on what they heard at church.

The United Church of Christ offers many Lectionary-based resources, including:

1. The Stillspeaking Daily Devotional , a Daily Bible Reading and Devotional Message. A team of some of the most gifted writers and pastors in the United Church of Christ collaborate on this daily spiritual email message which includes a passage of scripture from the lectionary, a prayer and a brief daily thought. This is also available as an RSS feed and a shorter version is available via Twitter. Get more information at http://tr.im/stil.
   
2. The UCC SAMUEL featuring Sermon Seeds, a lectionary-based sermon preparation resource. Available at: www.ucc.org/worship/samuel
   
3. Weekly Seeds , a lectionary-based Bible-study tool for local congregations adapted from Sermon Seeds. This is intended for lay Bible study in lectionary parishes. Available at http://tr.im/wkseeds. There is also an online discussion forum and blog on the Weekly Seeds linked from this page.
   
4. Free Bible Pagemakers . PDF files formatted as handy page markers you can insert in your Bible with the daily readings. Download from http://tr.im/stil
   
5. The United Church of Christ Calendar of Prayer, which pairs the daily and Sunday lectionary readings with inspiring stories from the lives of UCC congregations and members doing mission and ministry locally and globally. Available at: www.ucc.org/worship/calendar
   
6. Worship Ways, a variety of prayers, liturgies, and "how-to" articles for use on Sundays, Festivals, and special UCC calendar days.  Available at: www.ucc.org/worship/worship-ways

There are also several church school curricula, including Best of Whole People of God, Living the Good News and Seasons of the Spirit, that are all based on the lectionary. Find more information at: www.macucc.org/education/curriculum.htm.

UCC Calendar of Prayer

The United Church of Christ Calendar of Prayer pairs the daily and Sunday lectionary readings with inspiring stories from the lives of UCC congregations and members doing mission and ministry locally and globally, and with prayers for that work.

Click on the date to be taken to the full story and related prayers.