"The way we treat the reading of God's Word is itself a confession of how precious we believe it to be. When the pericopes are read with undue haste and too little volume, it makes it difficult for the congregation to understand the reading and suggests that God's Word is less important than it truly is. The reader should approach the lector's task deliberately and carefully, with due respect for the Word of God that is proclaimed. The reading should be neither monotonous nor melodramatic. The reader should be conscious that it is God's Word that is being proclaimed. Such careful reading requires preparation and practice." Introduction to Lutheran Service Book: One Year Lectionary with Feasts, Festivals and Occasions, p. xi.
06 January 2009
Neglected Rubrics, Lectionary
"The way we treat the reading of God's Word is itself a confession of how precious we believe it to be. When the pericopes are read with undue haste and too little volume, it makes it difficult for the congregation to understand the reading and suggests that God's Word is less important than it truly is. The reader should approach the lector's task deliberately and carefully, with due respect for the Word of God that is proclaimed. The reading should be neither monotonous nor melodramatic. The reader should be conscious that it is God's Word that is being proclaimed. Such careful reading requires preparation and practice." Introduction to Lutheran Service Book: One Year Lectionary with Feasts, Festivals and Occasions, p. xi.
I don't know that I've ever heard the Scriptures read out loud too quickly in my life. It seems to me that, today, we have the opposite problem -- (some) people seem to think that the Scriptures should be read like God's voice in the Ten Commandments, e-v-e-r-y w-o-r-d i-s r-e-a-d s-l-o-w a-n-d o-h s-o s-o-n-o-r-o-u-s-l-y.
ReplyDeleteI find it difficult to follow, and annonying.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteI've heard it BOTH ways. The key is, I suspect, to adjust the voice to the size of the room and the crowd. Might be needful to slow down just a tad in a big space, but in most of our churches the natural speaking pace should do the trick.