Welcome to Wading in the Waters of the Word™ with A Women’s Lectionary

Gentle Readers, Followers, Preachers, Pray-ers, Thinkers and Visitors, Welcome!

Welcome to this space where you can share your worship – liturgy and preaching – preparations – using  A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church. We begin in Advent 2021 with Year W, a single, standalone Lectionary volume that includes readings from all four Gospels. (We will continue with Year A in Advent 2022 to align with the broader Church.) In advance of each week, I will start the conversation and set the space for you all. I will come through time to time, but this is your space. Welcome!

Media Resources

A Women’s Lectionary For The Whole Church

Session 1, October 16, 2021
Rev. Wil Gafney, PhD at Myers Park Baptist Church

Plenary 1 | Translating Women Back Into Scripture for A #WomensLectionary
This session introduces participants to frequently unexamined aspects of biblical translation in commonly available bibles and the intentional choices made in “A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church.”

A Women’s Lectionary For The Whole Church

Session 2, October 16, 2021
Rev. Wil Gafney, PhD at Myers Park Baptist Church

Plenary 2 | Reading Women in Scripture for Preaching, Study, and Devotion
This session provides an overview of “A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church,” its genesis, production, and content. There is also an in-depth exploration of specific passages appointed for specific days including time for public and private reading and discussion.

Lectionary Lectio

Click the Comment links to add to the conversation

Last Sunday of Epiphany

Note: The Lectionaries contain readings for an Eighth Sunday of Epiphany to account for the peripatetic Feast of the Resurrection. This year (2022) Epiphany 8 does not occur.

The scriptures of Israel are occupation literature. Most reading them in a North American context are not living under the same kind of duress. It may make more sense for readers in the United States to hear the words of restoration from the prophet addressed not to US citizens, but to the displaced and resettled native peoples of this land. Such readings should not erase the original context or its contested implications for the contemporary physical land of Israel and for the Palestinian people. The Sophia traditions in the epistle and gospel portray a God who alone has the wisdom to resolve the internecine troubles of earth justly. As always, a word of caution about the rhetoric of New Testament writers when it pertains to internal Jewish conflict and conflict between the Christian community defining itself over and against its Jewish forebears. Christians have a moral and ethical responsibility to address and curtail antisemitism and anti-Judaism in the text as well as in historic interpretation. 

Epiphany 7

The story of the widow of Zarephath is extraordinary. She receives a rare miracle when she and her son are on the verge of starving to death and the prophet Elijah makes a way out of no way. That should be enough. A happy ending. This week her story continues with the unexpected illness of her child. Yesterday’s miracle is forgotten. But God and her prophet come through with the gift of life. How many women in scripture receive more than one miracle at the hands of God? None that I can think of. And as Jesus taught in last week’s gospel, God chose a foreign woman on the margins to demonstrate her power and faithfulness. This week she is in the company of widows in Acts and Luke. The resurrection of her son is followed by the resurrection of Tabitha and the son of the widow from Nain. Death doesn’t stand a chance. This is the power of God made manifest in Jesus.