Explanation

This resolution asks General Convention to instruct the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to consider trial use of the “Expanded Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings.” Trial use is a first step that may or may not lead to later adoption for permanent use.  

The Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) is an ecumenical body in which the Episcopal Church participates.  It prepared the Revised Common Lectionary for Sundays and Holy Days (1992), which the General Convention approved for trial use (1994-2006) and for inclusion in the Book of Common Prayer (2006).  In 2005 the CCT also approved the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings and commended it for trial use.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006) and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Book of Common Worship (2018) include that daily lectionary, and the Anglican Church of Canada is now considering possible adoption.  The 2018 General Convention asked the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) to consider trial use for the Episcopal Church, but it declined to recommend it to the 2022 convention, out of a concern that it might distract the convention from its report on the revision of the calendar for lesser feasts and fasts.  This resolution would send an expanded version of the daily readings back to the SCLM for consideration after the 2022 General Convention acts on the revision of the saints’ calendar.

The expanded version of Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, which the CCT adopted for trial use in 2021, differs from the 2005 edition in that it includes four daily lessons (OT, Psalm, New Testament, and Gospel), making possible use for a daily Eucharist.  It follows the earlier 2005 version in that it: (a) relates weekday and Saturday lessons to the Revised Common Lectionary’s Sunday and major holy day lessons, (b) follows the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary, and (c) includes a broader representation of Biblical women than that in Weekday Eucharistic Propers (adopted in seasonal portions by General Conventions from 1973 to 1997).

Augsburg Fortress Press is working on a print version.  In the meantime, a listing of lessons can be found at https://vts.edu/faculty-research-project-expanded-revised-common-lectionary-daily-readings/.