It may seem a little odd to put a page describing the various things that the church reads during Sunday Worship, however we recognize that not everyone comes from a liturgical background.  For example, some may come from more charismatic backgrounds, where only one portion of the Bible is read.  Or, one may be new to the faith and unfamiliar with the make-up of the Bible, or how the church decides what to read. 

In the Anglican Church, our service contains 4 readings from the Bible. 

The First Reading is taken from the Old Testament.  The Old Testament details the history of the Jewish people.  It starts with the story of creation, and ends with the hope of God coming to redeem his people.  The Old Testament is roughly 2/3rds of what we consider 'The Bible.' 

The next reading is taken from the Psalms.  This collection of poems and songs are found in the Old Testament portion of the Bible.  They are usually located roughly in the middle of the book.  Some of the pslams are happy, and describe God's rich blessings; others detail feelings of hurt and anger as people struggle with hardships and turmoil.  For this reason, the Psalms have always been a great resource for people wanting to express themselves to God.  In the church on Sunday, the Psalm is always recited along withthe congregation.  It can either be spoken together, or set to a musical setting and lead by the choir. 

The Second Reading is taken from the Epistles.  The Epistles are found in the New Testament portion of the Bible, which is the last 1/3rd of 'the Bible.  The New Testament details the life of Jesus and the beginning life of the Christian Church.  The Epistles are letters written by an individual to one a church in a particular area, often in response to a certain issue or question.  The Epistles are a great resource for knowing what it means to believe in Jesus, and how we are to live in the world.

The last reading from the Bible is taken from The Gospels.  These are the first four 'books' of the New Testament portion of the Bible, called 'Matthew', 'Mark', 'Luke', and 'John'.  These books detail the life of Jesus Christ.  The Gospel reading is read either by the Priest or the Deacon of the parish.  It is usually read in the center of the church, while the congregation stands.  The congregation stands as a way to recognize the importance that this reading has for the church. 

"So how do youick the readings for Sunday?"

The Anglican Church follows what is called a 'Lectionary.'  The Lectionary is a 3 year roster of readings for every day of the year, designed to cover the majority of the Bilbe.  The particular used by the Anglican Church of  Canada is the 'Revised Common Lectionary' (RCL). In fact, many different denominations use the RCL, which means that we all read the same portions of the Bible every Sunday!

To see the readings and prayer for each Sunday, click here, (click "RCL" and choose the year and month).

On the link above you can click on the reading and see the Bible passage to be read.  If you do not have a bible yourself, and wish to look at an online Bible, we have provided a link for an online Bible.  You can chose either the  New International Version or the King James Version.

Don't know how to navigate the Bible?

Firstly, don't be discouraged if you don't know the location of all the various parts. Many Bibles will provide a Table of Contents in the front.  Also, you can look in the back to see if your Bible has a 'Concordance."  A Concordance is a list of various words and topics with some specific verses pertaining to that theme. 

When you are looking at a passgae in the Bible, you will see the name of the book followed by some numbers.  The name refers to the specific 'book' of the Bible (i.e., Exodus, Proverbs, Romans . .)  These will coincide with what is listed in the Table of Contents.  Sometimes you will find an abbreviation.  For example, the book of Genesis will be listed as 'Gen'. The front of your bible should include a list of these abbreviations.  The first number you see after the name of the book refers to the chapter and the numbers following the ":" refer to the verses. So "Ex.10:1-5" means the Book of Exodus, chapter 10, verses 1-5.

Too make everything more difficult, some 'books' have the same name!  For example, there are 2 books of Kings; 2 books of Chronicles, 3 books of John to name a few.  These books will be designated with a number before the name of the book.  For example the letters of Paul to the Corinthian Church will be listed as 1st Corinthinas and 2nd Corinthians.  In abbreviated form, it may look like 2Cor.5:16-19  (2nd Corinthins, Chapter 5, verses 16-19)