I continue to meditate over why we worship and how the forms of worship fit with why we worship.
About a month ago, we had a meeting after church to talk about worship. Several people said they didn't like being read to.
I have been wondering about that. I try to read with expression. It is mainly sermons that I read occassionally, usually I preach without notes and the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving.
One of the things children love is being read to. In the 19th century, families gathered in the evening as someone read the latest installment of Dickens or someone else to them. I want to talk to one of the women about her dislike, but I don't understand. Reading is performance. Either when I read, I'm not performing, or something else is going on.
(OK, I don't like it when someone reads their power point presentation to me. I don't like reading something in front of me, except scripture. I love to slow down enough as someone reads the scripture and I soak it in with my eyes and ears, but that may be an acquired taste from lectio).
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Musings of a particular Presbyterian with a particular view Hopefully not very short-sighted
2 comments:
I think about this a lot. I worry that without notes I would say things that are too simple. Is that what people are asking for? I'm not being snide, I am truly wondering. Maybe my own love for my well-developed and carefully wrought phrases and images gets in the way.
I think there's a difference between preaching from a manuscript and being so wed to it that one never looks up and/or has no inflection. I think you explain yourself well in this post.
And I think about this a lot, too.
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