Picture the worship setting: the pads create the atmosphere, the guitar picks the melody, the singer draws us in… and then the drummer thunders in. Gloriously out of time. The cymbals crash with the confidence of a child who’s never met a metronome. Suddenly the congregation isn’t sure whether to sing, clap or begin interceding. Derek’s heart is in the right place, unfortunately his snare drum isn’t. You see, Derek has never really practiced. He picks the sticks up once a month and gives it a bash because he’s on the rota.
It simply wouldn’t happen. We’d make sure Derek rehearsed with the band before asking him to lead it, because we know worship matters. So does bible-reading. Yet I’ve sat in many church services where scripture is read from the front with the same approach as Derek’s drumming. Someone stands up, often with a good heart and a desire to serve. They may only have read aloud publicly a handful of times. With little opportunity to practice and no additional help, they get on with it, simply because their name is on the rota. As a result, we get a reading that is rushed or monotone or quiet or without passion.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not an argument for turning church into a performance. Far from it, I believe deeply in ‘everyone gets to play’ ministry. Church is at its best when people participate rather than watch from the sidelines. But inclusion and investment belong together. We don’t say ‘everyone is welcome to play the drums,’ and then leave someone alone behind the kit with no rehearsal or support. Could we offer the same support to those who read scripture? I’m not suggesting someone goes to RADA before they tackle Luke chapter 2 aloud. But perhaps a little support in preparation, and a few tools could help people read from the front with greater confidence. After all, this is the holy word of God. These are words that shape our faith, guide our lives, and reveal something of who God is. When we gather to hear scripture read, it deserves the same care we give to any other part of the service. I once heard a Rabbi say that Jewish children often spend many months preparing before reciting Torah publicly for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. The preparation is not simply getting the emphasis or pronunciation correct. It’s also an expression of respect for a sacred text.
What I learned from memorizing Mark’s Gospel for public recital was the value of applying the same actor’s process to preparing any script. I have continued to apply a shortened version of this process whenever I am invited to read scripture aloud. I found that reading a passage ‘cold,’ without preparation, tended to leave me overcompensating by forcing a ‘performance.’ Sacred scripture already carries power. It does not need an actor to manufacture that power. But just a little preparation can help remove the obstacles that might get in the way of people hearing.
So here are a few things I’ve found helpful. None of them require extensive training, a theatre background, or hours of rehearsal. They are small ways we can approach scripture, so we can give our best selves on a Sunday morning. They should add no more than twenty minutes to your prep.
1: Read it. Then read it again.
Before you think about reading the passage aloud, simply read it. Then read it again. What’s your first impression? What stands out? What surprises you? Is there a repeated word or phrase? Does anything confuse you? Are their names, places or ideas you need to look up?
Don’t rush to decide how to read the passage before you’ve taken time to understand it. Likewise, don’t head straight for the commentaries without giving the holy Spirit a chance to whisper understanding. Read it. Read it again. The more familiar you become with the words, the less you’ll feel the need to manufacture expression. Often, the meaning will naturally shape how you read it.
2: What’s going on?
Ask yourself, “what’s going on here?” If it’s a story, imagine the scene. Who is there? Where are they? What are they like? What’s just happened? What’s about to happen?
If it’s a letter, ask why was it written? Is Paul encouraging a struggling church or giving them a ticking off? Understanding will help with your tone. If it’s a Psalm – why was it written? As a prayer of depression or a song of thanks? Again, the tone will be led by understanding the why. We might call this bible study, but actors call it the “given circumstances”. It’s a series of questions: Where? When? Why? Who? How? The answers help the actor enter the story and enact it out from the clues hidden in the text. You don’t need to manufacture meaning; the clues are in your passage already.
3: See the scene.
As you read the passage, try to see it. Take Psalm 121, ‘I lift my eyes up the hills…’ What sort of hills are you seeing? Gentle rolling countryside? Or steep, rugged mountains? The picture you hold in your mind will begin to shape the way you read those lines.
Imagine Paul writing Philippians. In his prison cell. Is he pacing the room desperate to get the words out in a flash of inspiration? Or is he sitting quietly, carefully choosing each word? The pace, rhythm and emphasis of your reading will naturally change depending on how you imagine him crafting those words.
The goal isn’t to invent an emotion or rhythm that doesn’t fit, just to energise the reading. It’s to remember these words didn’t fall out of the sky onto the page. God used the circumstances and thoughts of the writer to divinely speak through. When you see something of that world in your mind, you’re no longer reading the bit of bible before the preach, you’re stepping into God’s story and bringing others along for the ride.
4: What’s the passage doing?
Every passage is trying to do something. Is it trying to comfort? Encourage? Warn? Correct? As you prepare, ask yourself, what does God seem to be doing through these words? How might the first hearers have heard them? What should the congregation hear today? You don’t need to force emotion on to the passage. Let the purpose shape the way you speak. A mother might tell her child, ‘Stand back,’ with urgency and warning if the child were standing too close to a busy road. Equally, a magician might use the exact same words with excitement and anticipation as he prepares his audience to ‘stand back’ in amazement. Context is everything. A prophetic warning shouldn’t sound like reading a shopping list. Your job isn’t to tell people what to feel, but to speak the truth and let the text speak for itself.
5: Let your body join in.
You don’t need to stand still like a lamppost. Even if one hand is occupied holding the bible, a simple gesture or a natural facial expression can punctuate the moment. Not because you’re trying to appear lively, but because bodies are part of how we communicate. Does the passage say ‘I look up to the heavens?’ then look up. Does the verse make you want to punch the air in victory – then do it! Often, the gesture isn’t for the congregation, it’s for you. It helps you inhabit the words. To feel something of what the original writer was feeling. When you connect with what you are reading, it’s much easier for the congregation to relate too. Less is usually more. One honest gesture is worth more than ten overly dramatic ones.
6: Read it out aloud.
This may sound obvious, but don’t let Sunday morning be the first time you’ve ever heard yourself read the passage. What sounds wonderful in your head, can feel very different once it comes out of your mouth. You’ll discover awkward phrases, tricky pronunciations, places where you need to slow down or even pause. Find somewhere you won’t be disturbed and read it out aloud. Then read it again. Listen to how the words land. Every time you read the passage, you’ll notice something you missed before. The text becomes more familiar, your confidence grows, and by the time you stand up in church, you’re no longer reading it for the first time.
Finally, the spoken word has always mattered. God didn’t write the universe into being, He spoke it! Perhaps we, as the church, need to rediscover the beauty and power of the human voice too. Your voice is God-given. It carries your personality, your experience, your joy, your tone, your resonance, your scars. It’s an instrument of who God created you to be. On the morning you stand to read scripture, nobody else can read the passage quite like you can. As you prepare well and offer your voice faithfully, you are not putting on a performance, you are allowing God’s word to be heard through the unique person He made you to be.
So don’t be a Derek. Don’t wing the word any more than you’d wing the drums. Give it those twenty minutes extra prep, trust that God will use your inimitable style and tone, and watch the scriptures come alive.