Welcome to The African American Lectionary, a multidimensional resource designed to enrich your spiritual journey. This lectionary offers a wealth of materials, including commentaries, worship resources, and cultural insights, all tailored to the African American experience.
Multidimensional in its approach and design, The African American Lectionary-which provided new material for 2007-2013-offers a cycle of biblical readings for 60-plus liturgical moments (annual days) throughout the year. The Lectionary serves as a guide that can be accessed whenever you need it. Since the Lectionary is archived, materials that a preacher, worship leader, or lay leader did not get to use in previous years is available. This allows persons to visit the site throughout any year and access material as they need it. All materials have been prepared in a manner that will make them beneficial for years to come.
The site offers search features that help you find the materials you are looking for by subject matter. The calendars list the liturgical moments (annual days) for 2008-2013.
Navigating the Lectionary
To quickly navigate through the material, click the year in which you wish to search. Then scroll and click. Thank you for visiting The African American Lectionary.
The site offers search features that help you find the materials you are looking for by subject matter. The calendars list the liturgical moments (annual days) for 2008-2013.
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Here you will find some of the most important and in many cases historical essays ever written concerning preaching, specifically black preaching. All material is copyrighted. For information on use of any material in the Preaching Development Corner, please only contact the authors or the publishers. Click any button (lectionary commentaries, worship resources, cultural resources, sermon illustrations, etc.) to be directed to that material.
Key Features and Resources
Lectionary Commentaries
Lectionary Commentaries will provide you with numerous ideas around which to build a sermon.
Multimedia Section
You will also enjoy the Multimedia section of the Lectionary. It features videos and audio used throughout the lectionary.
Liturgical Moments: Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth
Editorial Note: Since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth share important historical and cultural connections, we explore them under the same lectionary moment. Some congregations will choose to celebrate each of these moments separately on different days. Others will elect to celebrate only one of these moments.
Help your church understand the historical significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth. Familiarize yourself and your congregation with the history of the Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth via your Worship Arts ministry. Be creative.
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Let all African Americans continue to hope for a better tomorrow while remembering and rejoicing over our triumphant heritage. We will not forget the Middle Passage. We will continue to tell our ancestral story of bondage that gave way to freedom, both physically and spiritually. We shall forever strive to advance the Kingdom of God through liberation and excellence.
Worship Planning
Worship planning should focus on recognizing and promoting black artists, black composers, spirituals, and folk songs and on introducing art forms that support and reflect black heritage.
Suggested Activities:
- Create a newsletter entitled The History of Juneteenth. Explain the history of this important celebration. Include geographic information about the Gulf Coast Region of the State of Texas. Remember to cite each source used and by all means, provide pictures.
- Perform a skit based on the words of General Gordon Grangers General Order #3. Allow the viewers and participants to engage in the history of the freeing of slaves in the state of Texas.
- Educate in a creative way by holding a Secrets about African American History You Did Not Learn in History Class Essay Contest for youth (ages 12-17). If it is feasible, provide a trip to the city of Galveston or Houston for the winning writer and his or her family to attend an authentic Juneteenth festival. Essays can be posted for congregational viewing.
- Bring the song Lift Every Voice and Sing to life by allowing mime performers to present this moving song, which is considered the Black National Anthem.
Hymns and Songs for Emancipation and Juneteenth Celebrations:
- Thanks be unto God for granting freedom and giving us victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!
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- A Better Day Is Coming
- Farther Along
- God Will Provide for Me (Here, I May Be Weak and Poor)
- Just Today (I Have Found the Peace of Heaven)
- Lift Every Voice and Sing
- Oh, Freedom
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- Free at Last
- God Has Smiled on Me
- Go Down, Moses
- How Did You Feel
- Oh, Freedom
- We’ve Come a Long Way, Lord
- We’ve Come This Far by Faith
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- Celebrator
- I Really Love the Lord
- Oh, To Be Kept by Jesus
- Through It All
- We’ll Understand It Better By and By
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- In the Midst of It All
- I’m Free
- Stand Tall and Be Happy
- Tree of Life
- You Are an Heir
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- Freedom Is Coming
- Lift Every Voice and Sing
- We’ll Never Turn Back
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- I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired
- Jesus I Won’t Forget
- To Every Generation
- We’ve Come This Far by Faith.
- Offering
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- Come By Here
- There’s a Bright Side Somewhere
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- Faith
- My Heavenly Father Watches Over Me
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- Have You Crossed the Line? (You Have Waited Too Long)
- I’m Determined
- Try God
- When Comes the Day
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- Always Remember
- I Need You to Survive
These activities and songs can help your congregation engage with the historical and spiritual significance of these important liturgical moments.
Liturgical Moments: Thanksgiving
We consider God’s kindness to us from generation to generation. From our journey from African soils, across oceans and seas, to lands all over the Diaspora, and our pilgrimage in America, we have benefitted from the bounty which has been supplied to us through God’s amazing grace. God has not forgotten us. We know that we have been chosen by God to redeem a nation and a world that has become self-absorbed and self-centered.
Because you have redeemed us, we are called to be ministers of reconciliation. We are the beneficiaries of Jesus’ unconditional love which led to his ultimate sacrifice. We enjoy the privileges of freedom and the pleasure of possessions. All we have needed, your hand has provided. We have been enriched by the priceless benefits of family, friends, church, associations, and organizations that have embraced us, educated us, and edified us. God’s love and the love of all have sustained us. Against all the odds, we believe we are here because someone stood in the gap for us.
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O God, we give thanks for your goodness. We will tell our story and sing your praises in all the earth. We will express our gratitude to you in our service to our neighbor. We will pay forward our debt to you in our love and devotion to your creation. O God, we adore you, we exalt you, and we magnify your Name. Thank you for all you have done for us. Amen.
Hymns and Songs for Thanksgiving:
- Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. And it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. and praise your glorious name.
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- Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
- Let All the People Praise Him
- We Gather Together
- We Give You Thanks
- Count Your Blessings
- Now Thank We All Our God
- My Tribute
- Ain’t-a That Good News.
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- Every Day Is Thanksgiving
- He Has Done Great Things for Me
- Jesus, You Brought Me All of the Way
- Count Your Blessings
- Just Can’t Tell It All
- Thank You, Jesus
- Thank You.
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- Lord, We Give Thanks to Thee
- Thanks Be to Thee
- Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart
- I Will Give Thanks Unto Thee O Lord
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- Give Thanks
- I Just Can’t Tell It All
- Hallelujah to Your Name
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- Destiny
- Bless the Lord
- I Will Bless Thee, O Lord
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- Remember Me
- Thank You, Lord
- If Not for Your Grace.
- Give Thanks.
- Thank You.
Using the theme Time, Talents, and Treasures, worshippers may reflect upon their many blessings in each area.
MAAFA Service: Exploring Lament in Worship
One avenue to explore lament in worship is through a MAAFA Service. The term Maafa (pronounced MA-AH-FA) is a Kiswahili word that gives definition to the catastrophic event experienced by millions of African people during the Middle Passage (Transatlantic Slave Trade) journey from freedom in Africa to bondage in the New World.
A MAAFA Service can use the teaching and portrayal of the experience of the African slaves in a way that bridges both historical and spiritual perspectives, to develop our understanding and acceptance of lament as a part of public worship and not merely a matter of personal, private reflection and going through. MAAFA refers not only to the countless lives that were lost during the journey, but also to the powerful resilience of those who survived.
The colors for a MAAFA service and for most worship services held during Black History Month are red, black, and green.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Prelude Music | Let My People Go (Spiritual), Theme to Grace/Lament (George Winston) |
| Call to Worship | God Is Your Comforter |
| Choral Interlude | Ah Been Buked, Pt. 1 |
| Remembrance | Portrayal through sermonette or drama |
| Apology | Senate Resolution 39; Personalize with names affected by racial violence |
| Choral/Audio Interlude | Sweet Spiritual Suite in Eb, Pt. 2 (Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child) |
| Choral/Audio Interlude | Sweet Spiritual Suite in Eb, Pt. 3 (Soon I Will Be Done with the Troubles of the World) |
| Youth Presentation | Spoken word, poetry, music, drama, or dance |
| Choral/Audio Interlude | Sweet Spiritual Suite in Eb, Pt. 4 (Deep River) |
| Choral Interlude | Hold On, Pt. 1 |
| Benediction Reading | Isaiah 25:6-9 with African drumming |
| Benediction Prayer | Psalm 13:1-4 continue with African drumming |
| Choral Interlude | Ah Been Buked, Pt. 2 |
Worship Planning Notes
We are inclined to see lament as digression into doubt and despair. However, it can be fertile ground to grow confidence and joy. Imagine the disparity between what is felt with what we sing, with how we sing it. We not only assume, but we can also induce an environment that suggests that trust precludes struggle; faith erases doubt; hope removes despair.
Unlike grumbling and complaining, a lament involves even deeper emotion because lament is true asking, seeking, and knocking to comprehend the heart of God even as our hearts hurt. A lament involves the energy to search, not to shut down the quest for truth. It is passion to ask, rather than to rant and rave with already-reached conclusions. A lament uses the language of pain, anger, and confusion and moves toward God.
Suggested Activities:
- Consider bringing in an instructor to lead a workshop on African drumming as an outreach initiative that would also tell the MAAFA story.
- Incorporate African drumming in worship. For example, drumming can accompany hymns and Bible readings. It can also be used in a song added between the congregational prayer and communion or between the final prayer and blessing.
- Include a children’s story (should be highly interactive) on The MAAFA in the worship service.
Hymns and Songs for MAAFA Service:
- Prelude Music
- Let My People Go
- Theme to Grace/Lament
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- God Leads Us Along
- Hiding in Thee
- Seven Psalm-Based Hymns
- On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand
- Oh! That My Burdened Soul
- God Moves in a Mysterious Way
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- Jesus Lay Yo’ Head in De Winda
- A City Called Heaven
- No More Auction Block
- Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
- We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace
- The Blind Man Stood on the Road and Cried
- When I Was Sinking Down
- Over My Head
- There is a Balm in Gilead
- Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen
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- City Called Heaven/One Way to God
- Oh How I Love Jesus
- Blessed Be Your Name
- Wait on the Lord
- Try Jesus (He Satisfies)
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- Rock-A My Soul
- Broken Sorrow
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- How Long?
- I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes
- Many Are the Afflictions
- The Righteous Cry Out
- I’ve Been in the Storm
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- Speak to My Heart
- Where Joy and Sorrow Meet
- Mystic Oceans
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- The Joy of the Lord
- The Lord Will Hear the Just/Proclaim God’s Marvelous Deeds
- Thank You Lord
- Offertory Prayer
- How lonely sits our neighborhood! Cry aloud to the Lord! Arise, cry out in the night!
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- New Morning, New Mercies
- You Raise Me Up
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- Theme to Grace/Lament
- There Is a Balm in Gilead
- Where Joy and Sorrow Meet
- Steal Away to Jesus
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- Takwaba Uwabanga Yesu
- The Sixty-Seventh Psalm
- It Is Well with My Soul
- We Are The Drum (Africa to America)
