Women are essential in the Bible. Now they’re in the Sunday readings
‘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?’ asks the Rev. Wilda Gafney. Read the article from Religion News Service here.
On any given Sunday, many Christians the world over hear the same Scripture readings in church, which their pastor, priest, deacon or guest homilist then interprets or expounds upon. In the United States, 60% of those in the pews hear selections from a common cycle of readings, known as a lectionary.
These shared Scripture passages can be useful, allowing clergy to share resources about the texts or simply commiserate about awkward lessons or weeks of biblical bread metaphors. But for many preachers, especially women, the traditional readings are too narrow, and represent lost opportunities to broach new topics using rarely heard passages of the Bible.