The Public Reading Of The Scripture

Because Scripture is the living Word, it should be read with feeling, inflection, and conviction. Many renewing churches have established a lay readers group—people who have as their specific calling and ministry the reading of the Word in worship. This group will meet to rehearse and practice the reading of the Word so that its reading becomes an "event" in worship.

Scripture Reading in the Early Church The earliest source of our liturgy of the Word is the Jewish synagogue service, in which any adult male Jew could be invited to proclaim from the Jewish Scripture and to give a commentary. Jesus himself was a forerunner of the Christian lector. In the Nazareth synagogue, he unrolled the scroll of Isaiah, proclaimed a passage from the lectionary, and announced that he was the Spirit-filled servant described by Isaiah (Luke 4:16–22). Another source of Christian proclamation was the activity of first-century missionaries, such as Paul and Barnabas. Because the entire Christian community assumed responsibility for proclamation we would be in error if we described the urgent task of first-century evangelization and proclamation as the exclusive activity of ordained bishops and presbyters. Commissioned and sent by their community, itinerant ministers of the Word announced the good news of salvation in the risen Lord. They invited their listeners to conversion, which meant rejection of sin and acceptance of God's saving activity in Jesus. Liturgical ministries in this period were diversified and shared. Christ's command, "do this in memory of me," was accepted as a commissioning of the entire community to celebrate Eucharist. Who led the celebration? Usually the local bishop. Who proclaimed Paul's letters and the Old Testament Scriptures? Designated baptized (lay) members of the community. Learning How to Read Effectively I find that the most helpful approach for lectors comes from the discipline of oral interpretation. It is not that this discipline is going to solve all the problems, but it does provide a good starting point to examine our relationship to the Word that we proclaim. First, what is "oral interpretation"? I like Charlotte Lee's definition: "Oral interpretation is the art of communicating to an audience a work of literary art in its intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic entirety." Let us look at this definition more closely. The art of communicating to an audience … "We are involved here with a skill that can rise to become an art—a skill of communicating to an audience or a congregation. The focus is outgoing, toward the listeners, becoming one of them, for that is the purpose of any communication. Readers and listeners are brought into communion through "a work of literary art … " If such communion is possible through a work of Shakespeare or Dickens or Faulkner, how much more so in the case of the living Word of God, who desires that, in his Son, there be no division or separation. But for this to happen, the Word must be communicated "in its intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic entirety." First the lector must understand what he or she is communicating, the development of thought in the passage, whether it is the words of Jeremiah or Paul or a retelling of one of the stories of the Old Testament or the Acts of the Apostles. The lector must intellectually grasp what is being said. This will demand close study of the passage. Then the lector must communicate the emotional tone of the piece; so if it is the anger of Paul in his letter to the Galatians or the joyful anticipation of the prophet Isaiah envisioning when the wolf will be a guest of the lamb, this feeling must be felt and communicated. Finally, there is the aesthetic dimension of any piece, all those qualities that make the passage a work of beauty. It could include the rhythm in which a psalm has been translated, with its three or four stresses per line. Or it might be the way a story builds up to a conclusion—for instance the story of the death of David's son Absalom, which ends with David's grief-filled words: "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sam. 18:33). Or it could mean highlighting the words of a passage from the book of Wisdom, allowing for the silence before moving on to the next thought. The aesthetic concern is a concern for how all the parts fit together so that the listener has a total experience of the passage. Group Readings What Is Group Reading? Group reading is a stimulating, refreshing means of communication. Two or more oral readers share with an audience a piece of literature. By means of oral and physical cues, all the scenes, characters, and action exist in the imagination of the hearers rather than on platform. Attention focuses on the reading rather than on the reader. You may have encountered group reading in several forms—concert reading, multiple reading, readers' theater, or staged readings. Where Did Group Reading Originate? The recently revived art is said to have originated in Greece in the fifth century. Since then it has experienced revival at various times in various forms. The present resurgence holds a challenge for us as Christians. Why Use Group Reading? Little or no staging, costuming, or memorization are required in group reading. Consider the saving here in time and funds. This is not to say, however, that group reading can be done effectively without taking time for thorough individual and group practice. Young people of all ages are given an opportunity to share the Christian message with others through group readings. The reading from Jonah, for instance, has been presented successfully by young missionaries and in a modified form by children in a Christian day school. The variety of voices and faces in group reading makes it possible to present longer readings than one person could attempt without risking loss of attention. Finally, group reading "brings alive" the printed page in a remarkable way. This is invariably the first comment heard after the readings are presented.