From its beginnings the Church has read aloud from the Scriptures in its worship. As the Calendar of seasons and festivals developed certain readings became attached to particular occasions, and in time a scheme of readings for the services of each day of the year was devised. This is called the Lectionary and there have been many over the centuries. One of the consequences of the denominational division of the church, especially from the 16th century onwards, has been that each denomination has followed its own Lectionary without reference to others. In the Church of England the Book of Common Prayer (1662) has its own lections, the epistle and gospel, printed in full for each Sunday and major festival of the year. In this parish, as we use the Book of Common Prayer for Holy Communion on Sundays at 8am, we also use its lectionary at that service. However, one of the fruits of the movement for church unity - ecumenism - has been the formation of a lectionary which is now followed by many churches, including Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic. This is called the Common Lectionary and we follow its provision at our Common Worship services, principally the Parish Eucharist (9.45am St Marks). The Common Lectionary gives unity to the Church's worship across cultural and denominational boundaries. It follows a three year cycle of readings, with one of the three synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke - being the dominant text for the Sunday Gospels in a given year. Advent Sunday marks the beginning of the Church's year and on 3rd December we begin the cycle of readings from St. Luke's gospel (Year C). In each of the three years most of St. John's Gospel is also used, especially during the season of Easter.

The readings printed below reproduce the Lectionary as it is followed in this parish for both 8am and 9.45am Sunday services and festival occasions during December and January. The bracketed reading is usually omitted in Church. A quiet and prayerful reading of the lections beforehand is recommended as way of preparing oneself for worship

SUNDAY 6th	SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
8.00am	Romans 6.19 - end; Mark 8. 1 - 10
9.45am	Romans 7, 15 - 25a. (Matthew 11. 16 -19, 25 - end)
SUNDAY 13th	EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
8.00am	Romans 8. 12 - 17; Matthew 7. 15 - 21
9.45am	Romans 8. 1 - 11; Matthew 13. 1 - 9, 18 - 23;
SUNDAY 20th	NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
8.00am	1 Corinthians 10. 1 - 13; Luke 16. 1 - 9
9.45am	Romans 8. 12 - 25; Matthew 13. 24 - 30, 36 - 43
SUNDAY 27th	TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
8.00 am	1 Corinthians 12. 1 - 11; Luke 19. 41 - 47
9.45 am	Romans 8. 26 - end; Matthew 13. 31 - 33, 44 - 52