Last week I happily announced Concordia Collective’s latest product, Family Lectionary 2022. She is ONLY SELLING this during the first 15 days of November. That means there’s less than a week left to order! So today I’ll review this baby and give you all the details! 🙂
Family Lectionary 2022 Review
This is pretty impressive: substantial, well-organized, and beautifully easy & flexible. It is runs full-sized at 8.5 x 11 (opening up to double that). There is a double-loop ring binding that seems like it ought to hold up as long as it isn’t stepped on.
The calendar begins on Monday, December 27th (the week of January 1st of 2022). Then the calendar runs through the end of December 2022.
Each month begins with a two-page monthly calendar. There is plenty of room to write in the monthly spread, and the holidays include National Lutheran Schools Week and religious commemorations, which I think is great.
The columns are interesting because the monthly calendar columns starts with primary texts for the week. Then Monday heads the next column and Sunday is the last.
One of my bigger questions before I received this is whether readings would follow the Sundays of the Church Year or lead up to them. The answer is that texts lead up to culminate on the following Sunday, hence the intentional layout above.
As a general overview, this family lectionary includes a weekly (Monday) memory verse from the weekly Gospel, something to look for in church for each Sunday, spotlights on a saint and sinner (individuals of faith “whose lives can inspire us”), conversation starters offered under “Thank about It” and a quality-time/memory-maker under “Fun Together.” There’s also journaling space for discussions, insights, prayer requests, and sermon notes. (Although memorizing the Small Catechism is not included, there are various salutary references to it.)
The hymn to memorize for the year is “If God Himself Be For Me” by the phenomenal Paul Gerhardt. You sing a stanza from it each Monday (first stanza in January, second in February, etc.), which is probably enough to get it memorized. Although it isn’t assigned this way, I imagine our family could sing stanzas cumulatively, to help keep it fresh.
Because commemorations fall on various days, the days of the week aren’t strictly assigned specific tasks beyond a Monday verse and consistent use of hymns and categories (if I’m recognizing patterns correctly). So I’ll walk you through that first week so you get the flavor.
- Monday has a “Saint and Sinner” section on John the Apostle (as it is his commemoration day), two Scripture readings, a memory verse, a hymn verse about John, a suggested Arch book title, a suggested page from Weedon’s Celebrating the Saints, and a suggestion to print out the coloring sheet for the day (an eagle symbolizing St. John).
- Tuesday offers the Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday, a “Think About It” section for discussion and directed prayer, two suggested hymn verses, a recommended Arch book title, and a page from Celebrating the Saints.
- Wednesday considers King David on his commemoration day, a “Fun Together” section regarding peg dolls and retelling King David stories, a recommended hymn verse, six recommended Arch book titles (David is a popular figure, we can admit), and a suggested page from Celebrating the Saints.
- Thursday contains the Old Testament reading for the upcoming Sunday, another “Think About It” section, a hymn verse, and two recommended Arch books.
- Friday has a reading and a “Think About It” section (which includes an activity), something to look for in church this Sunday, and two suggested hymn verses.
- The weekend has a page for sermon notes and “Fun Together,” with another nod to Celebrating the Saints.
Over all, very nice! Especially handy if your child is in the age range of Arch books, although including corresponding page numbers to Celebrating the Saints really opens it up to all ages.
Would you be able to just grab this for a road trip? Yes! Could you keep this in your purse or your pocket? No! 🙂
Would I probably take Celebrating the Saints and a hymnal on the aforementioned road trip? Yes! 🙂 Also the super neat weekly art/memory cards you can print!
Would it also be neat to look up and pair readings with Arch books you already own? Yes! I’d probably try to find some bookshelf space where I could line up the Arch books in the order listed in the back of the book (by author) to pair them more easily.
Would I worry if I didn’t have all the Arch book titles? No, no, no! Even doing a little bit of this family lectionary every day will be a blessing. The additional options are perks, not obligations.
Let’s talk about addition resources a bit more. First, to assess the printables, just go to the printables’ webpage and enter the password included near the front of your book (page 7). There’s weekly art/ memory cards (which you download and print double-sided to create square cards). There are also disciple and evangelist cards. For the disciples, there are both full page and half page coloring pages, as well as a full color version of the disciples’ shields (full or half sized). Likewise, the Evangelists have small and large options, showing a figure and the symbol of either an animal or angel.
I would recommend having a Lutheran Service Book (Not a big surprise to most of us, I’m sure, but worth noting.). There are (in addition to a bunch of recommended Arch books) also the following recommended books:
- Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (Concordia Publishing House, 2006)
- Paul L Maier’s Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World (CPH, 2004).
- RC Sproul’s The Barber Who Wanted to Pray (Crossway, 2011)
- Julie Stiegemeyer’s Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (CPH, 2007)
- William Weedon’s Celebrating the Saints (CPH, 2016)
Well worth your serious consideration.
