SOME years ago, the Church Times published questions and responses concerning the practice of some churches “to disregard the Church of England’s official calendars and lectionaries so as to preach courses of sermons on the minister’s personal choice of readings”.

What was of concern for some was the rule to which each of us who is ordained makes a Declaration of Assent — namely that “in public prayer and administration of the sacraments, I will use only the forms of service which are authorized or allowed by Canon.” These forms of service, according to Canon B1(3)(ii), include any “Table of Lessons”, which, I think, means in the Book of Common Prayer or the 1970s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), with its three-year cycle based primarily on the Synoptic Gospels.

The Canons make provision for some discretion in forms of worship, and Common Worship says that, although on certain specified Sundays, readings shall come from an authorised lectionary, in Ordinary Time, the authorised lectionary remains the norm, but, after PCC consultation, the minister may occasionally depart from lectionary provision for pastoral reasons, for preaching or teaching.

There have been some calls for revision of the RCL while keeping its value in fostering a shared experience across the Christian Churches of reading the same scriptures, which strengthens unity and helps to ensure that the clergy don’t just choose readings that support their own preferences. The Lectionary provides for a broad range of biblical material, focused on the expectation, incarnation, teaching, death and resurrection of Christ, covered across the Church’s year.

The Canterbury Earth Justice Lectionary is radically different: a completely new lectionary offering for each Sunday of the year, and some other days, readings from the Old and New Testaments, and Psalms all chosen around one main theme: “Earth Justice in the context of climate emergency’”. The biblical texts are not printed out, but for each there are provided either anecdotal illustrations or scholarly commentary, with many quotations and references. These are all geared to equip church leaders, especially preachers, to understand climate change as an issue of justice within a perspective of God’s love for the earth and all creatures within a sacramental universe.

This 500-page book is from two American Roman Catholics: Robert E. Shore-Goss, a former Jesuit priest, later university teacher in Missouri, who now refers to himself as an “author and pastor”; and Sarah J. Melcher, Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Scriptures at Xavier University, Ohio.

Their extensive Introduction starts with reflection on the development of lectionaries in Christian worship, and for personal devotional use. They point to the adoption of Revised Common Lectionaries in the 1970s, and refer to Wilda Gafney’s A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, written to focus on women, in reaction to the view that current authorised lectionaries are androcentric. The two authors of The Canterbury Earth Justice Lectionary are primarily motivated by their deep concern for what they rightly call our “climate emergency”, and that, on the whole, the Christian Church has not been teaching and preaching nearly urgently and persistently enough.

They value the “Season of Creation”, now observed liturgically by a number of Churches worldwide. They recognise the global ethical movement of “Earth Justice”, understanding the earth as a living organism, but note our failure too often to hear “the cry of the Earth”. They have set out principles to interpret the Bible in order to promote justice and healing for the earth. This theme is spread across the church year, with groups of Sundays exploring this theme in Advent, Christmas, Wisdom, Lent (Restorative Justice), Easter (Resilience and Resistance), Pentecost, Creation, and Readings in an Age of Extinction.

Much of the many pages of comment on the chosen biblical texts is helpful and provocative, but it is not all of the same quality. Sometimes, the choice of text may be queried. For example, there is no reference to Amos or the Letter of St James; both have pointers to the meaning of justice.

I am fully behind the motivation that produced this work. Some of us preachers need all the help that we can get to engage seriously with the coming climate catastrophe, and to respond in justice to the cry of the earth. I can see that it could be enormously helpful as a resource for congregational study groups, or for personal devotional use. It could well provide a sermon theme for specific occasions.

Where I struggle from a Church of England perspective is how this could be consistently used as a lectionary, weekly, presumably in place of the RCL. Would this need a decision by the General Synod? The logistics of seeking PCC consent and, on occasion, episcopal good will make it difficult to use in our legal, liturgical, and pastoral context. Furthermore, we would lose the positive values of the authorised lectionary: the systematic working through the balance of the scriptures, related primarily to the life and teaching of Jesus, which the RCL — whatever its shortcomings — provides.

Dr David Atkinson is an honorary assistant bishop in the diocese of Southwark.

The Canterbury Earth Justice Lectionary
Robert E. Shore-Goss and Sarah J. Melcher
Canterbury Press £40
(978-1-78622-695-2)
Church Times Bookshop £32