A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church Year a - by Wilda C Gafney (Paperback)

About the Book

"In this project I propose at least two new lectionaries, a year "W," a women's readings year that can be added to the current Episcopal or Revised Common (RCL) Lectionaries, and a new three-year cycle. How would a lectionary centering women's stories, chosen with womanist and feminist commitments in mind frame the presentation of the scriptures for proclamation and teaching? More simply, what would it look like if women built a lectionary focusing on women's stories? How is the story of God told when stories of women's brutalization and marginalization are moved from the margins of canon and lectionary, and held in the center in tension with stories of savvy and strong women, women whose contribution is not limited to or does not even include childbearing? There are more than two billion Christians in the world according to the Pew Research Center demographic projections (Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, Global Religious Landscape, December 2012), 2.3 billion in 2015. With Roman Catholics making up an estimated 1.2 billion, and accounting for Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and other Reformed traditions along with some Baptist and congregational churches that use a lectionary, the overwhelming majority of Christians receive their scripture mediated through a lectionary. Based on the numbers in the Pew Research Center's 12 May 2015 report, "America's Changing Religious Landscape," as much as sixty percent of American Christians attend services in churches that use lectionaries. Those lectionaries are not simply as androcentric as are the scriptures, but in my experience as a congregant and priest, women are even less well represented than they are in the biblical text. For example, there are one hundred and eleven named women in the Hebrew Scriptures-which is itself under-represented in preaching lectionaries-not accounting for the numbers of unnamed women and girls. The lectionary is a catechetical tool. All many congregants know of the bible is the texts they hear read from their respective lectionary. As a biblical scholar it is my hope to see congregants exposed to the bible more broadly and deeply, and see them equipped to engage the sacred texts of their tradition critically, with nuance. This book will be for use in liturgical contexts in parishes and the institutions of the Church, in seminary classrooms-particularly worship and liturgy, and for individual devotional use"--

Book Synopsis

What would it look like if women built a lectionary focusing on women's stories?

What does it look like to tell the good news through the stories of women who are often on the margins of scripture and often set up to represent bad news? How would a lectionary centering women's stories, chosen with womanist and feminist commitments in mind, frame the presentation of the scriptures for proclamation and teaching?

The scriptures are androcentric, male-focused, as is the lectionary that is dependent upon them. As a result, many congregants know only the biblical men's stories told in the Sunday lectionary read in their churches. A more expansive, more inclusive lectionary will remedy that by introducing readers and hearers of scripture to "women's stories" in the scriptures.

A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, when completed, will be a three-year lectionary accompanied by a stand-alone single year lectionary, Year W, that covers all four gospels. Year A features the Gospel of Matthew with John interwoven as is the case in the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) and Episcopal Lectionary.

Review Quotes

"Gafney's paradigm-shifting scholarship will influence biblical preaching and teaching for generations to come." -National Catholic Reporter
". . . some of the best of recent biblical scholarship . . . "
-Anglican Theological Review
"Gafney has intentionally set out to elevate the voices and presence of girls and women within the biblical text."
-Christian Feminism Today

"Gafney's thoughtful commentaries and provocative translations will breathe new life into your preaching and stretch your congregation's theological imagination . . ." -The Rev. Kate Spelman, Episcopal Preaching Foundation

" . . . a beautifully written and profoundly challenging volume."
-The College of Preachers

"In a predominantly patriarchal world that still diminishes the lives, gifts, contributions, and voices of women, Professor Wil Gafney offers a distinct, bold, women's lectionary for the whole church and academy."
-The Rev. Dr. Luke A. Powery, Dean, Duke University Chapel, and Associate Professor of Homiletics, Duke Divinity School

"As someone who has learned so much from the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, I commend it to every congregation and classroom. It is a prime example of revolutionary scholarship."
-Brian D. McLaren, author of Faith After Doubt

"Wil Gafney has offered the church a treasure in this Women's Lectionary, and we would do well to make use of it quickly and thoroughly."
-Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, author

"I did not know how much my soul needed A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Churchuntil I began reading it, but now I suspect that I will never prepare another sermon or devotional without consulting it. Every pastor, indeed every Christian, needs this among their collection."
-Chanequa Walker-Barnes, PhD, author of I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation

"Gafney's resource will transform how the Bible gets read and preached in our churches, bringing us closer to the totality of God's love."
-Rev. Karoline M. Lewis, PhD, The Marbury E. Anderson Chair of Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, and Program Director, Festival of Homiletics

"A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Churchis not only a resource for liturgy and preaching. I believe it is also a tool for contemplation on the mighty works of God on behalf of all people."
-Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, Episcopal Bishop of Texas and author of Embodied Liturgy

"For anyone wanting to read and meditate on scripture and be nurtured by the word without being harmed, this text is indispensable."
-Willie James Jennings, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies, Yale Divinity School

"A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Churchchallenges the androcentric landscape of our most common readings, upending customary theological constructs to uncover the presence of the feminine Divine."
-Rev. Traci D. Blackmon, Associate General Minister, Justice Local Church Ministries, The United Church of Christ

"Preaching with Gafney's lectionary aids may provide a new sort of companionable presence to the pulpit and the pews alike: hearing, listening and reflecting on the God/human relationship with sensitivity to issues often overlooked or considered too difficult to discuss."
-Rev. Jerrod Hugenot, The Christian Citizen