Who should read the Bible in church?
Who should read the Bible aloud in church as part of our services? Should the preacher do it, or someone else? Is it more important that it is done well, or that our readers are representative of the community? How are they perceived beyond the church, and does that matter?
In an online discussion group I am part of, someone raised the question about who should read the Scriptures as part of the public service of worship. (Note that, to communicate what this is about, I used the title ‘read the Bible in church’, though I don’t like using the phrase ‘in church’ as there are better ways of talking about who we are as the gathered people of God!)
The person asking the question noted that, in Scripture, reading is often done by someone of standing, and that, as preacher, they like to read the passage they are preaching on.
On the first question: because our Bibles are less of a single book and more of a library of books developed over time, we do have reference within Scripture to the reading of Scripture—that is, reference in later parts of Scripture to the reading of earlier parts.
