"...to the place where he knew there were valiant warriors." 2 Samuel 11:16

Back in February, I was elated when I heard the Old Testament reading appointed for Super Bowl Sunday.  I needed no other signs or portents to know that my team had to win.  The reading for that Sunday was from Isaiah and ended, “but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”  Fly, Eagles, fly!

I went to a Super Bowl party later that day and told my host and hostess about the day’s reading.  My friend, who is Jewish, remarked, “So your pastor must be from Philadelphia?”  I didn’t understand at first.  It then dawned on me that he thought the pastor of my church had chosen that reading.

St. Timothy’s, however, like all Episcopal Churches, uses the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL).  No matter which Episcopal Church you attend in the United States, on any given Sunday you will hear the same readings.  In addition, no matter which Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist and more than a half dozen other denominations you attend, you will hear the same readings. The RCL is also used by the Church of England, as well as Protestant churches around the world.  The Roman Catholic Church largely follows the RCL as well. 

The RCL is a common plan for Bible readings in three-year cycles.  Each lectionary year begins the first Sunday in Advent.  We are currently in Year B of the three-year cycle.  After Year C we will begin again with the readings for Year A. We generally read an Old Testament lesson, a psalm, an epistle and a gospel lesson each Sunday.   

The lectionary was agreed to by a consultation with members from most mainstream Protestant denominations as well as the Roman Catholic Church, and has been revised over the years. This most recent lectionary was published in 1992 and officially adopted by the Episcopal Church in 2006. 

I am now scouring the Bible and RCL for references to Warriors to find if any will be read during a certain basketball tournament.  However, I do know for certain that the Bible never mentions Cavaliers.   --Amy Phillips Witzke

Why Not?

Seven-year old Kristina sat in front of me before the 11:00 service recently, wearing her alb.  I leaned forward and asked her if she knew that girls at one time were not allowed to be acolytes.  She looked puzzled more than shocked.  "Why not?" she asked.  I really had no answer other than the one that is most beloved by Episcopalians--"Because that's the way it had always been done." Bill McIndoo then added with a chuckle, "And women couldn't be priests either."

I was 12 when the rector of my church announced that there would be a class to train new acolytes.  To my surprise, he did not specify that the acolytes had to be boys; so I went to the class and became the first female acolyte at the Church of the Holy Comforter, Drexel Hill, Pa.  

That was in 1974, the same year that the Philadelphia Eleven (as the women came to be known) were ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church.  These 11 women had previously been ordained as deacons, but were denied their call to the priesthood because they were women. 

On the Feast Day of Mary and Martha, the 11 were ordained by three retired Episcopal bishops.  The three-hour ordination was punctuated by several priests who stood and read aloud condemnations of the proceedings, but in the end the ordinations were allowed to continue.  The national Church declared the Philadelphia Eleven's ordinations to be "irregular" but permitted them to stand.  It wasn't until 1976  that The Episcopal Church voted to allow women to fully participate in the life of the Church.  As Kristina said, "Why not?" --Amy Phillips Witzke