Lay Readers: Why Even Prepare?

Why Even Prepare?

The rare lay reader invests more than a couple of read-throughs of his or her text before standing in front of the congregation to deliver it. How come? Because that’s all it takes to prepare well enough to get through it without messing up too terribly, right?

Wrong. We can do so much better. So, why don’t we?

I Don’t Have Time
Who has hours on a Saturday night to rehearse a short text we’ve heard a million times?

I Don’t Know How Else to “Prepare”
Besides running through it twice to check for crazy names or tricky turns of phrase, what other kinds of preparation should I do? What can I hope to gain from extra work?

Let’s Raise the Bar as Lay Readers

Handling God’s word in corporate worship is like handling plutonium--it can change you. It can change everyone around you. The way we handle it can strongly influence whether that change is life-giving or damaging. We can skillfully illuminate a challenging passage, or we can bore them to tears by the way we read. 

Let’s say there was a streamlined, lay-accessible system for quickly analyzing the text to get a revelatory understanding of it. Why should we take the time?

1. Preparation Produces Confidence

Remember coming to school knowing you’d be facing a math test in first period, and you hadn’t bothered to study? The resulting anxiety ranked somewhere between “annoying” and “debilitating.” But how about those times you walked into a test fully prepared to knock it out of the park? No sweat. Your confidence could almost turn to happy anticipation. Bring it!

The same principle applies when we serve as the lay reader in a worship service. When we have been through the text a dozen times, worked a simple system of text analysis, rightly understand the writer’s meaning, and the words flow like a gentle stream, our anxiety level is very low. We confidently read the scripture, and the congregation hears it and lets it sink in. Conversely, if we walk up to the lectern fairly blind, not knowing what kind of literary traps await us, our anxiety levels may be high, and that may be the lasting impression on the congregation—they worry about how we will get through the experience, instead of focusing on the Word.

2. Lay Ministers are Role Models

Like it or not, we set ourselves up as people of some authority when we stand at the lectern and read God’s Word. Especially if it is our tradition to wear vestments, the congregation sees us as folks more in the know, and models of Christian lifestyle and spiritual practice. Can we in humility accept this role? Nobody’s perfect, but are we intentionally seeking to live the life of a disciple—a student and companion of Jesus? Let this responsibility inspire and encourage you to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

3. God’s Word Deserves Care and Skilled Delivery

Let’s get real about exactly what we’re reading. This is not the sports page or the instruction manual for our toaster oven. This is God’s Word. People have gladly given up their lives for learning this, for protecting it, for translating it, for smuggling it into hostile countries, for living by its precepts. It’s a radical, counter-cultural, inflammatory, transformational, hope-bringing, slave-liberating, living and active Word. It should come with Kevlar gloves. We are highly favored to read it aloud, in front of a public gathering of God’s people. We enjoy an unequaled privilege. Scripture deserves great care.

4. We Experience Personal and Corporate Formation

Because of the power of God’s Word, our role of lay reader invites us to a life of learning, to plumb the depths of God’s revelation and be changed by it. As we grow in our knowledge and love of the Lord through this regular study, our whole parish will be leavened, and our parish can grow. Our newfound knowledge and skills in reading and studying scripture can be contagious, spreading this spiritually maturing lifestyle to our fellowship of friends.

I challenge you to raise your expectations and your aspirations for your role as a lay reader of scripture. You and your congregation deserve more. You can do this!

If you’re ready to join in this exciting growth process as a lay minister and disciple of Jesus, I recommend grabbing a copy of The Eloquent Lay Reader: How to Skillfully Prepare and Deliver the Biblical Text for Your Congregation to learn the streamlined process of preparing your texts. It’s available on Amazon as a Kindle book or in paperback.