Expanded Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings
In 2005, the Consultation on Common Texts, an ecumenical body that has been working on common lectionaries and texts for more than 50 years, approved Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings for trial use. The lectionary offered weekday and Saturday readings that prepared for and reflected upon the lessons in the Revised Common Lectionary for Sundays and holy days. There were three lessons for each day: an Old Testament lesson, a Psalm (two selections, one of which was repeated from Monday to Wednesday, the other for Thursday to Saturday), and a New Testament lesson (which was from the Gospels on Wednesday and Saturday and from other portions of the New Testament on the remaining four days). The Introduction to Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings suggested that these lessons might be used privately, “for corporate worship,” “for Sunday educational and leadership preparation,” or “for midweek services of word and sacrament.” It noted, however, the limited number of gospel readings meant that it could be used for the Eucharist only twice a week and not on a daily basis (9-10).
The introduction to Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings ended with the invitation to submit “responses and feedback” and with the hope that trial use of the text would “help perfect it” (10). The lectionary that follows is such a response. The initial idea for it began with members of a committee appointed by the dean of Virginia Theological Seminary, who were concerned about the lack of relationship between the lessons of the Daily Eucharistic Lectionary adopted by the Episcopal Church and the Revised Common Lectionary. It retains the specific lessons from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, though with some rearrangement in order. The major change is the addition of five new Gospel readings and two new non-Gospel New Testament lessons so as to offer a set of four readings for each day (OT, Psalm, non-Gospel NT, and Gospel), a structure that parallels that of the Revised Common Lectionary’s Sunday and holy day readings.
The Consultation on Common Texts approved the “Expanded Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings” in 2021. Augsburg Fortress Press, the publisher that works with the Consultation, is preparing for a published edition. In time, the Consultation website and several other sites will carry the list of lessons.
The Consultation makes proposals, but it is individual churches that formally adopt the lectionaries and texts that it proposes. The Episcopal Church adopted the Revised Common Lectionary for Sundays and Holy Days in 2006; the 81st General Convention has authorized for use the expanded new CCT daily eucharistic lectionary (see Resolution A112). This site makes the listing of the new CCT daily eucharistic lectionary lessons available to members of diocesan and General Conventions. Download the readings using the buttons below.
Daily Readings - Year A Daily Readings - Year B Daily Readings - Year C