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Description
Endorsements Reviews About the Author How to Order |
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Year A Coming in October Order your Copy Today!
Quantity Discounts Available! |
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Designed for lectors and lay readers...
but can also be used for • Sunday School classes • small group Bible studies • personal study and devotion • sermon and teaching preparation
• $20.00 Year A. Pre-Order Now Year B. Coming in 2011 Year C. Available Now
Year A • ISBN 978-0-9618-1129-7 • 450 pages; 6 × 9 × 1¼ • Otabind Layflat Binding • Long-Lasting, Durable Cover • Quantity Discounts Available, Click HERE |
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Description |
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A LECTOR’S GUIDE AND
COMMENTARY assists those whose calling, responsibility, and privilege it is
to proclaim the Word of God through the public reading of Holy Scripture. The
Guide provides a brief, reliable commentary for each lectionary reading, and
then offers suggestions for how the text can be delivered so that the
biblical Story might have its full impact on the Christian community gathered
for worship. Pronunciations for biblical words and names are also included
for each reading. The Guide is for use by any
Christian tradition or congregation that follows the Revised Common
Lectionary; it even includes the adaptations authorized for use in The
Episcopal Church. Although designed first and foremost
for lectors and lay readers, the Guide has also been developed with other
groups and uses in mind. It can be used to trigger discussions in Sunday
School or a small group Bible study. It can serve as a resource for personal
study, reflection, and devotion. It also functions as a first stop for
preachers and teachers. In short, A Lector’s
Guide and Commentary is for anyone who wants to read the Bible
with understanding. |
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Endorsements |
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“Why is it that when
we proclaim The Word of the Lord
following a scripture reading in worship, it sounds so implausible? It is because the church—across
denominations—has slipped into such bad habits for reading and presenting the
scriptural text aloud, that it scarcely sounds like anything God would say.
How could the Word of God be as boring as we make it out to be? What is
needed are guides for reading that will help our lectors restore the life and
meaning to the texts we read each Sunday. J. Ted Blakley has given us another
of his helpful lector guides. Readers will find material to understand each
text in the commentary section and performance suggestions for reading the
texts with understanding. This is an indispensable resource for congregations
who follow the lectionary and desire to let people hear and understand The Word of the Lord.” The Rev. Dr.
Clayton J. Schmit Professor of Preaching, Fuller Theological
Seminary; Pasadena, California Author of Public
Reading of Scripture: A Handbook “The Lector’s Guide
and Commentary is an amazing gift to those of us who preach, teach and read
the Scriptures in worship. The most difficult task of the scholar is to be succinct
yet thorough, and Dr. Blakley has done this. In the Introduction, he says his
aim is ‘to make the Bible accessible so that people might more easily enter
into the biblical narrative and be encountered by the God of the Bible.’ An
ambitious goal, but one that the book accomplishes. In addition, the
pronunciation guide is a great help to those of us who, even after years of
study, struggle to say strange names and places correctly. This book is a
blessing in so many ways.” The Rev. Dr.
James Bryan Smith Assistant Professor of Theology, Friends
University; Wichita, Kansas Author of several books in Christian
spirituality, including The Apprentice Series “It is a wonderful
privilege to belong to a church that uses a lectionary rather than relying on
a narrow range of scriptures chosen by the pastor, but the other side of the
privilege is that we read all sorts of passages without being sure what they
are about. It is a huge privilege to read scripture in church, and these
introductions will help readers do so in a way that brings the passage home
to the people. They will help preachers too.” The Rev. Dr. John Goldingay Professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological
Seminary; Pasadena, California Author of Old Testament Theology: Israel’s
Gospel “Dr. Blakley
provides an invaluable resource for the Church. With masterful brevity and
just the right amount of scholarship, he locates the assigned text within its
literary context, the biblical narrative, and the liturgical theme of the
day. After identifying the salient thoughts, he prudently suggests where and
how to bring the text alive for the Church. Finally the scholar, the
liturgist, the rhetorician, the lector, and the pew sitter are united! All of
our lectors will have a copy.” The Rev. Jim Clark Rector, Saint Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal
Parish; Scottsdale, Arizona Author of The ART of Engaging Holy Scripture Study Series |
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Reviews
for Year C |
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Review in Episcopal Life, October 2009 THE SCARED LECTOR mounts
the steps, adjusts behind the eagle or the angel or the plain old book stand
and squeaks out the Epistle, never having seen the passage before. J. Ted
Blakley’s A Lector’s Guide and Commentary is here to help that reader.
A mighty help it should prove to all readers, because it has everything we
need to make readings meaningful. Blakley, who serves
as scholar in residence for St. Mark’s Press, joined his love and study of
the Bible to his appreciation of good oral interpretation to create this good
guide to correspond with General Convention’s adoption of the Revised Common
Lectionary in 2006. More than that practicality, he sees A Lector’s Guide
and Commentary as a loving and useful way “of putting the Bible back into
the hands of God’s people.” Blakley’s
commentaries include cross references to connected biblical passages. He
provides a table of contents, a Scripture index and a pronunciation guide
(even to the seemingly simple Mary (MAIR-ee) and Martha (MAHR-thuh) and Ham
(HAM). To him “biblical
texts are not dead or inert” but “dynamic, alive and rich with meaning.”
Blakley includes mini oral-interpretation lessons on how to read the propers
with proper attention to pacing and inflecting, without dramatic hand
gestures. For example, he counsels lectors reading I Corinthians 11: 23–26
that the words are Paul’s, not Jesus’ own, so an informative tone is better. Blakley’s tone is
supportive and encouraging, sometimes wry; his style, always plain and clear.
Though learned, he uses the weapon of erudition only for good. A Lector’s Guide should help all lectors, even if they
never thought they could be one; it also would work for Bible classes or
personal study, It’s a keeper. reviewed by Martha K. Baker This
review, in its entirety, appeared in the October 2009 issue of Episcopal
Life (p. 19) and has been posted here with permission. Review in The Living Church, 13 September 2009 The reading of sacred
scripture is foundational to our worship. No other Christian group surpasses
Anglicans with respect to the amount of scriptures solemnly read in our
worship. But while our liturgy is wonderfully rich in biblical readings, the
reading itself can, on occasion, leave something to be desired. St. Mark’s
Press and Dr. J. Ted Blakley have produced this guide to enable churches to
raise their standards of liturgical lection — whether good or mediocre at
present — to a new level of excellence. The book’s introduction
offers a primer on the art of liturgical reading with a lot of common-sense
tips for novices as well as advanced guidance for the more adept. I am in
hearty agreement with most of the author’s suggestions, but demur slightly
from his stern warning against over dramatization. The opposite —
expressionless, monotone rendering of the text — has been much more the case
from my observation. In fairness, the author does advocate a kind of via
media between these two extremes. The main body of
this volume covers the RCL Year C. Unfortunately, All Saints’ Day, the
Annunciation and red letter saints’ days are not included. Each set of
propers comes with a commentary, suggestions for lectors, and a pronunciation
guide. The suggestions give advice on the tone and pace most appropriate for
each of the readings and how best to convey the meanings of the texts. The thoughtful
commentaries give substantial exegetical background and narrative exposition
to the appointed texts. These commentaries make up the greater part of the
book and constitute its most valuable element. They will be useful not only
to lectors but to anyone (including preachers) who desires deeper biblical
insight and appreciation for the Liturgy of the Word. My only reservation
with regard to the commentaries is that they presuppose a level of education
and sophistication on the part of the reader which might render them not
wholly accessible to everyone. This would be particularly true for the very
young readers encountered more and more often in Sunday worship. A Lector’s Guide
and Commentary builds
upon and expands the existing traditions of the guides published by St.
Mark’s Press for the BCP lectionary. The advent of the RCL presents the
church with new challenges and opportunities for relating scripture and
worship. This book is an admirable response to the challenge — at once highly
practical and intellectually engaging. Its fine scholarship commends it not
only to Episcopalians but Christians of other traditions as well. The soundness of
this volume leads one to await eagerly the publication of its projected
companions for years A and B. The Rev. Kenneth D. Aldrich Huntingdon, Pa. This
review, in its entirety, appeared in The Living Church magazine on
September 13, 2009 (pp. 8–9) and has been posted here with permission. |
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About the Author |
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J. Ted Blakley
(M.Div., Ph.D.) received his doctoral degree in Biblical Studies from the University
of St. Andrews in Scotland. Currently, he serves as Executive Director and
Scholar in Residence for St. Mark’s Press in Wichita, Kansas, where he and
his wife, Rebekah, reside with their three children: Emma, Thaddaeus, and
Esther. More information
about the author can be found through his online curriculum vitae. |
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How To Order |
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In the near future,
St. Mark’s Press hopes to be able to offer online ordering through our
website. In the meantime, we
offer three ways to order. |
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1. |
Call our toll free
number: |
1-800-365-0439 Monday thru Friday 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Central Standard Time |
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2. |
Email your order to stmarkspress-at-gmail.com. (where -at-
= @) If you are paying by
VISA or MasterCard, we will
contact you for payment information. |
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3. |
Print out and mail a
completed order form to: |
St. Mark’s Press 8021 West 21st Street North Wichita, KS 67205-1743 |
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St. Mark’s Press
offers quantity discounts on all of its products. • If you order 10 to 24 items, you will
receive 10% off your entire order (excluding shipping and handling). • If you order over 25 items, you will
receive 25% off your entire order (excluding shipping and handling). NOTE: Quantity discounts
apply where the total number of
items reaches 10 or 25. In other words, you
do not have to order 10 or 25 of a single item to qualify for the discount. |
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Shipping |
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In order to provide
the best service possible, most orders are processed and shipped the same or
next day via UPS or the USPS. • Expedited and international shipping
is available, please contact us for details. |
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Bookstores |
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If you are a
bookstore and wish to sell St. Mark’s Press products, contact us and we will
send you a catalog and information regarding pricing for bookstores. |
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