The Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church

Dear Friends, 

This past Sunday a group of us began to learn about the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney’s resource called ‘The Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church’. This was a brave project to create an alternative lectionary (i.e. schedule of worship readings) that centered on women’s stories from the Bible. She estimates that while there are 111 women named in the Bible, the lectionary includes passages that contain not even a tenth of this number. 

I have a deep love for our sacred scriptures, and really enjoy resources or insights that help me learn something new about them, or help me see them in a different light. I like that there are deeply disturbing stories, that some of the authors could be a bit long-winded or convoluted in their thinking, or that God is portrayed in confusing ways. 

This Sunday we’ll be spending the entire 40-minute forum doing bible study using her translations. We’ll be reflecting on her choices and her notes on the scriptures passages to help us see them in a new light. I hope that this time will open our minds to see the scripture differently, and raise our awareness about what we each bring to the sacred story that we are all a part of. 

Lenten blessings, 

Areeta+