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

Epiphany 6

Reading between the lines: God told Elijah she told a widow to provide for him. That conversation is missing. The widow seems surprised by his demand, not request. Why would she do such a thing? Feed a stranger before her child? How do we tell the story in a world where some shepherds fleece their flock? The psalm reminds us not to trust in any human person [that would mean not even prophets]. Trust in the God who provides for orphan and widow. Does not God provide through other people? The epistle tells us to put our faith in action. We will be known by what we do. The gospel ties these threads together. Jesus is the liberating God who provides for widows and orphans in the flesh. And his gospel of love calls his followers to love in and through their actions. 

Epiphany 5

The story of Jesus manifesting his divinity at the wedding in Cana is paired with nontraditional readings this week. They are a celebration of love and marriage and by inference, a celebration of human sexuality. These readings begin with the lusciousness of the Song of Songs. The psalm is a royal wedding psalm for a bride who will be remembered very differently, but in these verses she is resplendent. The apostle critiques those who would use the call to ministry to deny those who minister the fundamental right to love and partnership, expressed in the cultural idiom of the world of the text as marriage. Jesus and his mother are having a delightful time at a wedding. When the wine runs out they have a playful conversation. Ultimately, it is Mary the Mother of God who calls Jesus to reveal himself and gives the best discipling teaching in the canon, “Do whatever he tells you to do.”