"Lectionary mods" from the Open Source Lectionary

Of the four projects I focused on in my article on alternate lectionaries, Eric Lemonholm's Open Source Lectionary arguably got the least attention—the fewest words, the fourth slot of four. But that's not because I found it to be the least interesting or significant.

Instead, I gave the Open Source Lectionary less ink because it's a different kind of project. It doesn't create an entire lectionary or lectionary year from scratch; it proposes a shift in the way we think about and use the lectionary we have. And I placed Lemonholm's work last mostly just to pivot tidily to the article's conclusion. Which is to say that I generally agree with him.

In the article I mention that Lemonholm's website offers several examples of series that might be used to "move outside the lectionary for a season." He calls these "lectionary mods"; his point is not to replace the RCL but to use it more flexibly. "Being able to choose series mods," he told me, "would allow congregations to focus in on a book or theme over time, and build an awareness of the full biblical story."