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I love the cosy bits of Christmas. Candles, carols, the warmth of familiar stories. We need that.

But the more I’ve been writing week by week with the lectionary, the more I’ve noticed some of the more challenging parts of our favourite stories. The gospels don’t give us a tidy Christmas. They give us a story with hard edges – anxious rulers, fragile safety, hurried decisions, and a family forced to move.

As I was diving into the Lectionary writing my new book, it really hit me this year.

The First Sunday after Christmas Day (Year A) takes us straight into Mary and Joseph fleeing with Jesus. Not a dramatic adventure – a desperate decision for safety. Then Epiphany arrives and we often lean into the star and the gifts – but it’s also about power, fear, manipulation, and strangers who bring kindness while a palace panics.

If you’ve spent any time on this site, you’ll have seen me use the phrase “inclusive, justice-shaped worship” quite a lot.

It’s at the heart of Priming the Lectionary. It’s woven through the hymns, prayers and song videos I share. It shapes the free resources here and the work I’m doing through Holyvity. But I realise it may not always be clear what I actually mean by it.

This hasn’t always been my language. As I’ve journeyed in faith, my writing and ministry have become increasingly justice-focussed and intentionally inclusive. What began as “trying to find helpful worship words” has grown into a conviction that justice and inclusion are not optional extras or niche interests; they are central to the gospel and therefore central to how we worship. This post is part of how I’m trying to name that clearly.

What follows isn’t a finished definition, but a shared starting point. My hope is that it helps you recognise some of your own longings, questions and hopes for worship too.

Why am I putting so much time into writing, creating worship materials, and sharing resources online? The short answer is: I can’t not. This feels like the shape my calling has taken – something I’ve been longing to do more.

But there’s a longer story behind it all.

When I wrote Priming the Lectionary, I didn’t imagine it as a book you read once and shelve. I pictured it living on a desk, in a vestry, beside a favourite chair or in a chaplain’s bag – a resource you reach for as you shape worship, conversations and community life.

Alongside the book, I’m creating free companion resources here on GaryHopkins.net: prayers, ideas and, in particular, a song video that echoes the themes and can be used reflectively and inspirationally. My hope is that the book and the online materials speak to each other and make it easier to plan worship that is inclusive, justice-shaped and imaginative.

Every context is different. Some follow the lectionary closely; others dip in occasionally, or don’t use it at all. Some gatherings are in church buildings, some in homes, some mostly online. The good news is that Priming the Lectionary and the free resources are designed as a flexible toolkit, not a rigid script.

Here are some ways you might use them together.