Movement II: The Word
The Shape of the Liturgy
In this second movement, the scripture passages of the day are read and then preached. At All Souls we follow the Church Calendar, or what is often referred to as the lectionary. There are a few important things to say here. First, the church calendar tells us what season we are in. We believe that the life of a Christian is not primarily oriented around winter, spring, summer or fall, or around secular holidays like Father’s Day or the Fourth of July, but rather around a different time which focuses on, and roots us in, the life of Jesus. As you can see below, each season has a different color, and our sanctuary will represent those colors as the seasons change. It’s always amazing to walk in the room and visually know that you’ve walked into a new season. The Christian year begins not on January 1st, but on the first Sunday of Advent.
“The liturgical year is the process of coming back year after year to look at what we already know, on one level, but are newly surprised by again and again…To live the liturgical year is to keep our lives riveted on one beam of light called the death and Resurrection of Jesus and its meaning for us here and now. One. Just one."
-Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year1
The other thing that the Church Calendar does is present us with what texts are to be read and preached. The reason behind this is so that we are sure to return again and again to the whole of Jesus’ life. It keeps our hearts and worship focused on Jesus. There are typically four readings: a Psalm, a passage (or “lection”) from the First Testament, a passage from the New Testament, and a Gospel reading. We always stand during the reading of the Gospel to honor the presence of Jesus, the living Word, among us. We love hearing theses texts read from members of our congregation, including our children and youth. These readings give the authors of these sacred texts the space to speak to us on their own accord even if the preacher does not cover a particular part of the passage.
After the readings, the person preaching will expound upon these passages in hopes of hearing what God wants to speak through these texts to our church. While reading a passage aloud is a beautiful and good practice in and of itself, we remember that preaching and teaching is an important part of our worship. We recall the story of the Ethiopian in Acts 8 who, reading from the book of Isaiah, was asked by Philip:
“Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?”
While the structure of the liturgy is deeply important and formative in and of itself, it is vital that we understand what we are doing and what we are hearing. This is part of the role of preaching. After preaching, we stand together and recite a Creed, a confession of what we believe. Only after this are we ready for Movement III: The Table.
Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life, The Ancient Practice Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009), 23-24.