The Academy of Parish Clergy, Inc. has given the 2018 Reference Book of the Year Award to Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship, edited by Duke Chapel Dean Luke A. Powery and three other theologians.

The academy reviewed the first volume—Year C, Volume 1: Advent through Epiphany—of a nine-volume lectionary commentary series published by Westminster John Knox Press. The series provides new resources to help preachers connect congregations to Scripture. The award recognizes this first volume, but also the potential value of the entire series.

The other three general editors of this series are: Joel Green, professor of New Testament interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary; Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Candler School of Theology, Emory University; and Cynthia L. Rigby, W.C. Brown Professor of Theology at Austin Presbyterian Seminary.

The Connections series offers creative commentary on each reading in the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary starting September 2018 and ending in March 2021. Each reading is first viewed through the lens of its connections to the rest of Scripture and then by seeing the reading through the lenses of culture, film, fiction, ethics, science, and other aspects of contemporary life.

An associate professor of homiletics at Duke Divinity School, the Rev. Dr. Powery is also the author of Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals, Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching, Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope, and Rise Up, Shepherd! Advent Reflections on the Spirituals; and coauthor of Ways of the Word: Learning to Preach for Your Time and Place.