Now, here is a thing. Here is a wondrous thing.
Reading the Bible is an integral part of knowing about God, being a Christian, wanting to know more about the Christian faith and generally living the good life. However, most people haven’t a clue where to start with it.
Fortunately, the church in its wisdom publishes a list of suggested bible readings for every day of the year. Unfortunately, they are in a format that does not help people look things up very easily. You have to know which year of the two year cycle we are on, you have to know what season we are in and you have to know whether today’s readings have been budged out of the way by a festival. Then you have to look it all up in a spiral bound book which is falling to bits. (Trust me on this, it is falling to bits).
Anyway. As a further offering in my quest to make the spirituality of the church more accessible to everyone rather than just professionals, I thought I would produce a wee bookie with all the readings in for 2009.
So here it is – a Daily Prayer Calendar of Bible Readings.
So now you have your new year resolutions all sewn up. You can read the Bible every day using the same readings that are used in St Mary’s and in the wider Scottish Episcopal Church at Daily Prayer services. You can fit them into prayers if you want them or just do then at a time of day to suit you. Unless there is something more specific given, we do the Old Testament and Gospel at morning prayer in St Mary’s. The theory is, if we said Evening Prayer in public it would be the Epistle and Gospel.
What do you mean you don’t have a Bible? Go and get one. You want an Anglicised NRSV with Apocrypha. Stop making excuses.
I’ve also tagged onto the Daily Calendar a table of what colours we use on different days in church because people are always interested and I’ve included a list of the biblical abbreviations that are used in the tables.
Enough to get you started?
Any questions?
I fear I am not being parochial but internationalist. Is it not the case that the basis of Scotland’s Daily Lectionary provision comes from the Colonies? In advocating the SEC daily lectionary, I might also be accused of advocating things American.
Make the most of it.
Stewart – I’ve already pointed out to one member of the clergy today that the Calendar in the 1929 prayer book is no longer authorised and that consequently his soul is in peril should he be tempted.
You’ve been warned.
An’ ther’ wuz us thinkin’ you’d be sittin’ wiv yer feet up an’ twiddlin’ yer thumbs now most of the festivities is past…..!
I suppose I am clinging to my youth – Prayer Book and 1970 grey book etc. However I do like the Blue Book – does anyone remember the orange book (I am sure I had a copy but cannot find it).
I guess in years to come the current SEC lectionary will become unauthorised and we will be having a similar discussion.
Turning to Pink Vestments – anyone for Pink at St Mary’s on Mothering Sunday?
Until we have a full purple set (or full sets of both blue and unbleached linen) and a full black set, I’m not even going to begin talking about pink.
the worst thing is when people use “rose” vestments but they’re actually closer to red! “rose” surely logically translates into “as pink as possible”
The unbleached linen option does sound fab.
Full sets – including Copes, Maniples, Burse, Veils and Apparels???
We shall concentrate on getting the paucity of purple and black dalmatics and tunicles sorted out before we start worrying too much about the rest.
I remember the orange book – I was on the Provincial Synod wot ratified it (at least, I think that was what was happening – I was a bit new to all that in these days. I think I’d been sent to the PS as a gesture towards (a) youth and (b) women)
so now we have a paucity of dalmatics and a paucity of psalms in this conversation.
Britain is never good at importing things from America. In this case, it took the readings, but left the psalms. The American daily prayer lectionary offers at least four psalms a day. Ours doesn’t include psalms at all (save for the eucharist), and the offerings in the prayer book lack diversity and breadth.
Would that it were otherwise.
I like cranberries. Does that count?
a culinary truce.
does that mean you are hoping to come to the cookie and cranberry muffin baking bloggers day?