A couple of months or so ago I was having a conversation with Frank LeBart, and he was asking me about the origins of the lectionary (the weekly Bible readings) and who puts it together. I didn’t have much of an answer for him, so he decided to do some research himself, a portion of which I am now sharing with you in this article.

The lectionary system is the work of two ecumenical bodies representing a number of churches. The first is the North American Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) and the other, the International English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC). The CCT has its origins in the 1960’s, formed by Catholic and Protestant liturgical scholars in response to some of the directives that came out of the Second Vatican Council. It went through a couple of revisions, and the one used now is the Revised Common Lectionary that came out in 1992. The CCT includes representatives from more than twenty-five Protestant churches in North America (including the United Church of Christ) and representatives from the Roman Catholic Church. The ELLC represents similar groupings in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Canada.

The lectionary is a three-year cycle of readings that follow the church calendar from the seasons of Advent to Christmas to Epiphany to Lent to Easter to Pentecost to Advent. It consists of a Gospel, Epistle, Psalm, and Hebrew Bible lesson for each Sunday and for special holy days like Christmas. Matthew is the primary Gospel text for year A, Mark for year B, and Luke for year C (the cycle we are currently in). Sometimes all the readings fit together with a common theme, and at other times of the year the Epistle and Hebrew Bible lessons go from week to week sequentially.

What is kind of neat is that in the church traditions that require the lectionary to be followed each week, you would know that essentially the same lessons are being read around the country and in a number of countries around the world in many of the Christian churches. Coming from the fiercely independent Congregational tradition, UCC churches are not required to follow the lectionary, though the vast majority do on a somewhat regular basis.

I have been more or less following the lectionary my entire preaching career. Since I don’t have to, I occasionally stray away from it if I’m going in another direction with the worship on a given week. But most of the time I do follow it. I find it is a good discipline for me to ground my sermons biblically (rather than topically), and because the lectionary covers such a large portion of the Bible in a three-year period.

Though the Gospel of John is not one of the primary Gospels in the three-year cycle, each of them includes John quite a bit at different times (as well as the Book of Acts). The last two Sundays, for example, I went off the lectionary and preached from Acts and then from John on my own. So hopefully, the congregation is exposed over the course of time to a well-rounded variety of biblical texts, and not just my personal favorites.

This may be more than you ever wanted to know about the lectionary, but hopefully you now have a better understanding of this important ecumenical liturgical system that helps shape our weekly worship experience. I always welcome your questions or comments.

Shalom,

Ken

As was true in the very earliest Christian churches, our church needs us all to contribute our talents for it to successfully perform its mission. One of the ways we can contribute is to serve on a committee that coordinates and/or performs our church’s worship, administrative, fellowship and service functions. You might have noticed a form from the nominating committee in the church bulletin over the past few weeks. Another copy (2 sided tear-out) follows. If you have already filled one out, or completed a Time and Talent survey during 2002 or 2003 which provided this information, thank you! If not, please prayerfully consider whether serving on a committee might be an appropriate way for you to contribute your enthusiasm and talent to our church.

Faithfully,

Lynne Devnew Wolfe

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Amistad: Pilgrim's Legacy Continues
March 7, 2004, Outreach Sunday

The Board of Christian Outreach is delighted to announce that President/CEO of ChangeWorks Consulting, Patricia A. DeRosa, will be our speaker and discussion moderator for Outreach Sunday. Patti's company based in Randolph, MA provides consulting services for business, healthcare, human service, educational, and community organizations in the public and private sectors. With over twenty years experience as a consultant, educator, and activist, she has worked with both adults and youth.

She has served on the faculty of Simmons College, Boston University, and Lesley University, teaching courses on diversity and social justice. She is author of several articles on diversity, white identity, and anti-racism.

Ms. DeRosa has a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from the State University of New York at Oneonta and two graduate degrees from Boston University, a Master of Social Work in Community Organizations, Management and Planning, and a Master of Arts in African American Studies.

We would like to thank Bev Duncan for securing Ms. DeRosa for our program. With accolades from Peggy Files, who heard Patti speak at Andover-Newton, we know this is a program you won't want to miss.

Mark your calendars now for Amistad Sunday, March 7, 2004. Lunch and an interactive program is planned for after our Sunday service.
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BYTE 1: Thank you for all your support during and after our Christmastime loss of my mother. My husband, children, siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces, colleagues, and friends, many of whom were in town for Christmas, made the vigil with Mom bearable and helped sanctify her passage. I’m here to tell you that I think that New England woman—my mom—received more loving kisses and hand-holding between her stroke on December 11 and her death on December 31, than she had received cumulatively in her entire 95 years! I thank God for the gift of time in which we were able to drop all of OUR reserve so we could make sure she knew how much she was loved and cherished.

BYTE 2: I will be in the pulpit on February 1, while Ken is in Texas. My theme will be inspired by UCC Women’s Week, which is February 1-7. I also will preach on March 7, which is our annual Outreach Sunday, and it is also Amistad Sunday. My focus will use the Amistad incident as a way to explore the abolitionist legacy it has endowed to us New England Congregationalists and specifically to Pilgrim Church. The worship service will be followed by a Board of Christian Outreach-sponsored brunch with a dynamic speaker who will help us consider "What’s Racism Got to Do with Us?" (See the article elsewhere in this issue.)

In faith,

Bev Duncan

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The easiest way to get your items for the bulletin and newsletter in is by submitting them by e-mail, if convenient, to the church office @ secretaryofpilgrimchurch@hotmail.com. The deadline for the March newsletter is Sunday, February 15^th.

Thank you, Cathy Doughty, Pilgrim Church Secretary

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Thursday, February 12^th 10:30 – 1:00 pm

Skip Schippers will be leading us in a program entitled:

"Relationships as a Spiritual Path".

Coffee will be served at 10:30 am followed by Skip’s program at 11:00. Immediately following Skip a delicious soup and salad lunch will be served in the vestry for some interesting discussion and fellowship time. Cost is $5.00 per person for the program and lunch. If you are interested in attending this event please contact Debby Jewell 781-934-9696. Remember, you can invite a friend or neighbor to come with you.

The next meeting of the Bookworms will be February 24 at 1:30 P.M. in the Library. The book that will be discussed is "Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind" by Ann B. Ross. All are welcome to join this lively and informative book club.

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___________________________________________ PILGRIM CHILD CARE AND PRESCHOOL

Christian Education Luncheon

Dear Pilgrim Church Family,

It was especially important to Julie to do this, as she was an eight and a half month old orphan when she left her native Vietnam in 1974 to be adopted by the Knutsons, a Minnesota family. David and Julie and the others, under the direction of COPI founder Binh Rybacki, spent 17 days in Vietnam, treating from 150 to 250 patients a day. They treated the children in the orphanages, patients in a leper colony, boat people along the coast, people in the Hanoi area, and the children in the HIV/AIDS clinic.

Many people are impressed by the work of Binh and COPI, including Kiwanis International, which awarded its 2002 World Service Medal to Binh and COPI, for its extraordinary service and compassion to the world’s children. Past World Service Medal winners include Audrey Hepburn in 1993, Rosalynn Carter in 1995, and Mother Teresa in 1996. The $10,000 grant will be used to help support the operation of the Pediatric HIV Center in Ho Chi Minh City which COPI is building to serve and house the 2,500 children with HIV in that city. When the parents discover that their children are afflicted with HIV they usually abandon them.

In addition, COPI operates five orphanages, facilitates international adoptions, organizes medical missions, such as what David and Julie took part in, educates thousands of children, and issues "micro-loans" to cottage industries.

We are honored to have Binh Rybacki, along with my son and daughter-in-law, with us on Sunday, Feb. 22^nd. Binh will speak briefly during our church service, and will show slides and speak at length after we eat our delicious Vietnamese luncheon. David and Julie will also be present at the luncheon that is sponsored by the Christian Education and the Christian Outreach Committees, and a freewill offering will be collected, with the proceeds going to Children of Peace International.

Please do save the date. I promise you that you will be impressed by what one woman did when she found that she could not leave things as they were…that she had to do what she could to help. And help she has.

Come on Sunday, Feb. 22. Eat and listen and look and learn. Come.

Lynn DeHart

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