Over the course of the next church year, you may begin to notice something a little different in the bulletin: our scriptures will come from a translation called A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church. The Women’s Lectionary centers the voices of women by lifting up biblical stories featuring women and/or bringing attention to where women have been minimized to uplift the male perspective.
Author Wilda C. Gafney says, “it is the stories of women and girls, female characters and their names (when given), that are most likely to be unknow by congregants and seminarians and, all too often, clergy.”
Marginalized voices have a lot to teach us about God’s grace and Christ’s compassion. They are often the first to tell of the Holy Spirit’s movement among us. Pastor Emily has wanted to use the Women’s Lectionary for many years, and as this is the year that the 3-year lectionary cycle restarts, this felt like a good time to begin a journey through scripture in a new way.
One aspect of the Women’s Lectionary that might be a little jarring for some is that it uses feminine language for God (which is often how the Hebrew Scriptures recognize the Holy Spirit/Wisdom). Gafney notes, “Exclusively masculine language contructs and reinforces the notion that men are the proper image of God and women are secondary and distant.” Our church has long eschewed that notion, so it will be good for us to read in ways that open ourselves to expansive understandings of the God who cannot be contained by our language.
The book is available online and does offer some devotional prompts, if you would like to follow along. Otherwise, look for updates and further reflection from Pastor Emily throughout the year in Connections.