Understanding the Sunday Scriptures A Companion to The Revised Common Lectionary Year A
Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, December 2nd, all EpiscopalChurches are expected to start using the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) forthe weekly Sunday readings during worship. ... Those wholike to study the lections each week will need to find appropriate newresources for that study. For those of you who, like me, prefer to work withan actual book or written commentary Understanding the Sunday Scriptures: ACompanion to the Revised Common Lectionary Year A is now available. It isfrom H. King Oehmig, the editor of the previous Understanding the SundayScriptures, Episcopal Edition. ... The new book alsoincludes the Collect of the Day, a reflection, several questions to discuss,and a space for journaling each week. This book, which covers the entireyear, is available for $21.Itis comprehensive and based on good scholarship. --Episcopal Life Magazine/Anglican Connections, November, 2007Oehmig has succeeded in writing a book that is accessible and theologically sound.  It could easily be used by a Bible Study group or Lectionary class.  It could also be a valuable tool for individuals interested in probing further into the appointed readings.  The "Points to Ponder" section that ends each discussion is especially helpful; it invites the reader to connect the readings with an application to his own life. --The East Tennessee Episcopalean newsletter, August/September 2007Old British Bishop John Robinsion often said that the pulpit is too often six feet above contradiction. Perhaps a most remarkable thing about King Oehmig's "Understanding the Sunday Scriptures" is that it moves sermon preparation off this dead center and, as jazz players say about the right tempo, puts it "in the pocket." The resources and patterns in this material bring the pulpit into the midst of the people where it belongs and make of it a collegial and integral part of the liturgical "flow" as it is intended to be.This "companion" to the scriptures offers a most workable and orderly format not alone for the clergy, but as well through multiple uses for parish leaders, followers, and enquirers. It does this in a very user-friendly, step-by-step leading, almost an enticement of the reader from a clear, yet critical interpretation of the text through an "ah-ha" moment of reflection, then on to significant questions pointing the reader to a resourceful intentionality.To understand does not mean so much to define or describe as it does to find meaning and foundation. King Oehmig's arresting study is a refreshing new pathfinder for bringing Holy Scripture alive in our time. --The Reverend Lane Denson editor, The Covenant JournalWeek after week, Oehmig sweeps his meaning detector over packed-down texts and finds fresh treasure in them, largely by setting his dial to the frequency of the culture in which we live.  As faithful to the Bible as he is to human life on earth, Oehmig makes surprising connections between the two... and shows the rest of us how to do the same. --The Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor, recognized by Newsweek as "one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English language"