The reason there is so much confusion over the lectionary in the church
calendar is that the churches don't know what they are doing. So they think
that by dividing selected scriptures into portions to look at in isolation and
pasting 52 of these portions together each year they have solved the problem of
what to include.
In the 1940s and 1950s it was possible for a minister like my father to take a
sermon round the circuit, and thus save a lot of preparation time, especially
as there were more churches in those days. By the 21st century, we had to write
a new sermon every week to fit into that week's lectionary. It got worse when
we had to make multimedia presentations every week, which was one reason why I
gave up preaching.
My best sermons were when I took a larger topic such as a whole book of the
Bible or a contemporary issue and explored it. I had a series on the churches
of the New Testament which was very interesting. I composed labyrinths based
on biblical characters to cover the whole hour of the service with short talks
at each of the stations (usually 5 stations). Or I looked to the life of a
writer and what they wrote- in my case it was mainly poets. After the Haiti
Earthquake I delivered a sermon contrasting John Wesley's terrible attitude
towards the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 with Voltaire's Candide. I also found
plenty to say on peace and environmental issues. I liked finding seasonal
themes, such as the Treasures of Darkness for an Advent service. As well as the
Christian calendar, I followed the 8 natural festivals in the Wheel of the
Year. It was great fun while it lasted. I've still got all these sermons.
If you abandon the lectionary, you might even be able to preach some good
sermons on John's Gospel!
Best wishes,
Raymond Garfoot.
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