The Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) concluded its annual meeting at St. Andrew’s United Church, Bloor Street in Toronto on April 16. The Consultation is a joint American and Canadian ecumenical body that is responsible for the Revised Common Lectionary, a schedule of biblical passages read on Sundays and major feasts in congregations of multiple denominations in North America and other parts of the world. Denominations and church bodies represented at the recent meeting included the Anglican Church of Canada, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA, North American Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), The Episcopal Church, The United Church of Canada, The United Methodist Church, and United Church of Christ.

The CCT received a draft statement about the use of passages of Scripture in John and Acts of the Apostles that have historically been used to justify discrimination and violence against Jews; a further draft of that statement is expected in August and will be circulated to member denominations for comment. The CCT also established a committee to consider lessons for a feast celebrating God’s work in creation. The idea of such a festival, proposed by the Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios in 1989, has gained support in recent years from western churches. An ecumenical seminar held in Assisi earlier this year endorsed the idea of adding such a feast to the Church calendar, but inclusion of the festival will be dependent on the actions of individual denominations.

The CCT heard reports on use of the Revised Common Lectionary and on the activity of member denominations in relationship to worship. It learned that a recent project, the Revised Common Lectionary: Expanded Daily Readings is scheduled for print release this summer; it increases the number of daily lessons to include a psalm and three other biblical readings, matching the Sunday pattern. The CCT also elected the Rev. Dr. Eileen Scully as Treasurer for the CCT in Canada and elected representatives to the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), an international body composed of representatives of churches in the English-speaking world.

Finally, the CCT celebrated the work of Dr. Fred Kimball Graham, who has been a participant in the CCT for 35 years and was one of the drafters of the Revised Common Lectionary. Fred announced that this year would be the last meeting in which he would be able to participate in person but indicated that he would join in later meetings remotely.

The Episcopal Church was represented at the meeting by the Rev. Dr. William Petersen (member at large and one of the CCT representatives to the ELLC) and the Rev. Dr. Robert W. Prichard (Episcopal representative and current chair of the body).

The CCT meets in person annually. Next year’s meeting is scheduled for Louisville, Kentucky on April 7th and 8th.