The provincial Liturgy Task Force, in consultation with the Bishops Review Panel and with consideration of the sizable feedback on past versions, is preparing the text for next year’s release of the Book of Common Prayer 2019.
Of all the assignments the Liturgy Task Force has undertaken, “The Daily Office Lectionary has been among the most challenging,” noted Archbishop Robert Duncan, chair of the Liturgy Task Force. This latest version of the DOL is the third substantial revision. (And it may not be the last!) According to Duncan, the group “worked tirelessly” to consider and incorporate the extensive input they received.
The Daily Office 3.1, labelled the “St. Mary’s Day Revision” as it was released on August 15, now includes the Old Testament abbreviations from 19 August to 30 November. The Task Force again asks for “wide testing and regular use of this revision” through the end of November 2018.
Archbishop Duncan explained that the latest iteration of the Daily Office Lectionary takes into consideration “the realities of modern life” and the demands on the user’s time.
The new Daily Office:
2. Can be employed for a one-year read-through or spread to a two-year cycle;
3. Offers ways to read the Psalter in one month, two months, or even more extended patterns;
4. Balances continuous reading of the Scriptures with provision for limited acknowledgement of the church year;
5. Indicates the way a lesson/chapter can be abbreviated when shortening an Old Testament reading is necessary or desirable; and
6. Includes readings from the Apocrypha (Article VI and BCP 1662), but offers a simple pattern of alternative readings.
The purpose of the Liturgy Task Force’s request for the “immediate and widespread use of this revision between now and November” is to gather feedback (as on all other working texts being finalized) that might impact the final version to be included in the Book of Common Prayer 2019. You can email your feedback to liturgytaskforce@anglicanchurch.net
Distributing this revision for use was deemed more important than having it perfected. Users will note the suggested abbreviations of the longer Old Testament chapters are available only for June through November. Be sure to keep an eye out for the final update later in the year that will include all Old Testament reading abbreviation suggestions.
To view the newly revised Daily Office Lectionary, click here. There is also now a page-by-page format available here.
