Reading prep with Roselyn

You have the words in front of you. In a few days you will be reading them out loud for a Holy Hermits service. 

Asking God’s help, you start preparing. Take a quick look over the passage and see if there are any words or names that you do not know how to pronounce. Those you need to Google e.g. “ Xerxes pronunciation “. Google will write the word out the way it sounds and also let you click to hear it spoken. If it is not obvious make a note of it so you can practice it over the next few days. 

Next you need to read slowly through the text, out loud if possible. If you have someone to listen to you it can make the next steps easier. Do you understand it? Can your listener understand it? There are many different writing styles in the Bible. The Gospel passages are usually stories. These are normally read by an ordained person in church services and are the easiest to understand. You are more likely to be reading something from the Old Testament or Epistles. The epistles or letters can be difficult. Often the writer is trying to make a point or argue for a position and you are only reading a tiny bit of their argument. You can make it easier for your listeners if you read slowly and pause where punctuation suggests. 

Old Testament passages can be anything from poetry to heavy prose. If you can understand it there is a good chance your listeners will. Psalms are another matter. There is likely to be a colon ( : ) in each verse. This is because the Psalms have been translated to be chanted or at least said aloud by two people or groups. When chanted the voices swap over between verses and at the colons. This gives a pause of about a count of two in silence.  

The best you can do with the Old Testament, including the Psalms, is to speak clearly, make sure you know how to pronounce the words and pause when the punctuation indicates you should. If you decide to do more study there are heaps of books and websites where people explain what they think the Bible passages are about. Be careful to go to a reliable source of information and double check any book or website with someone you can trust. 

When you are not reading, listen to other readers and work out what makes it easy or difficult for you to understand what is being said. After all that is the whole point of reading. Practice your piece a few times before the service and offer a quick prayer before it is time for you to read. Enjoy contributing to the service. 

Roselyn 

You can read more about the Reader role, as well as all other serving roles, at the Weekly Worship | Ministries page.