This document provides information and guidance for those seeking to become lectors. It defines a lector as someone commissioned to proclaim Holy Scriptures during church services in a way that celebrates and strengthens the faith of the congregation. The document discusses areas of preparation for effective proclamation, including understanding the meaning and context of scriptural passages, conviction that God is using the lector's skills to reach others, and techniques for vocal delivery and body language to engage the audience. These techniques include voice inflection, pacing, eye contact and posture. The overall goal is to bring God's word to life for the congregation through skilled proclamation.

5. Definition: Lector
a person
commissioned
to proclaim
Holy Scriptures
in church services;
someone personally and
prayerfully involved
in proclaiming
the Word of God with the
purpose of celebrating
and refreshing the faith
of the assembly;

6. Definition: Lector
one who combines
strong personal faith,
good
communication skills
and spiritual inspiration
to cause the assembly
to listen to what is
being proclaimed;
a church minister who
brings life and flesh
to the Word of God .

8. He called and you answered,
“Here I am, Lord!”
You realized _ “The harvest is
abundant, but the laborers are few”.
You would like to fall more deeply in
love with God and His Word in
Scripture
Your parish needs you to take on a
more active role in the church
community
Why are you here?

9. You were a lector at your former
parish and would like to continue
serving
You believe you can do a better
job than those you’ve already
seen and heard
One of the lectors has inspired
you to want to do the same thing
they do
You’ve got this nagging feeling
in your gut that you’ve got to.
Why are you here?

10. Why are you here?
Inspired by the
Parable of the Talents
(Matthew 25:14-30) _
God blessed you with
a good speaking voice _
to whom much is given
… much is expected

12. Christ is present in His Word
since it is He Himself who
speaks when the Holy
Scriptures are read
in the Church.
From Second Vatican Council In
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #7

13. Three (3) areas in
preparing to be
more effective proclaimers
of the Scriptures:

14. Sensitivity to the personal
meaning and significance of
the specific Scriptural
passage being proclaimed.
How? By in-depth
knowledge/understanding of
the Scriptures,
on-going Bible reflection,
religious education, etc.

15. 2nd area in preparing
to be more
effective proclaimers of
the Scriptures:
Conviction that God is
using the lector’s skills,
knowledge and example of
Christian living
to reach others who
most need to hear God’s
Word at the moment

16. 3rd area in preparing
to be more effective
proclaimers of the
Scriptures:
Use of proclamation
skills/techniques to bring life
to the Word of God _
emotional expression,
changing pitch, pausing,
pacing & energy,
distinguishing between
statements and questions,

17. Bringing God’s
Word to Life

18. Bringing God’s
Word to Life
Text Work
Voice Work
Eye Contact /
Posture
Inflection
Intention
Emotion

19. Text Work: Style
Narrative: Change inflection
to differentiate speakers
Didactic (ex. St. Paul’s
writings)
Exhortatory (needs much
more energy to manifest
types of emotion)
~ Strong, heightened
language, often with
exclamation points in the
translation;
~ Direct address to the
people or to God.

20. Text Work:
Literary Devices
Parallel contruction
Paradox
Hebrew (thought)
rhyme

21. Text Work: Take time to
reflect the meaning of
what you are reading
What is the author’s intent?
What are the circumstances
surrounding the situation
described or inferred in the
passage?
Communicate the meaning
of the reading
Context: Scriptural,
Liturgical, Lectionary

24. Voice Work
Volume “Blowing them
away with loud volume is
not the answer nor is
hoping they’ll listen by
speaking softly”
~ Vocal energy
~ Link to eye contact
~ Vary soft and loud
AS NEEDED

26. Voice Work
Tempo/Pacing
“Speaking too quickly
deprives the listeners
of valuable time to
process the meaning
of the words/phrases”

28. Voice Work
Rhythm /Stressing for
meaning
Pausing “processing
moments” in order to
add a dimension to the
meaning of what is
being said.

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30. Eye Contact /
Posture
Eye Contact
Posture

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32. Inflection
Use all parts of your
voice range to convey
emotion
Avoid the dying
inflection
Use commas as “up
arrows”

34. Intention
What is the author’s intent?
What are the circumstances
surrounding the situation
described or inferred in the
passage?
What is the author’s tone?
Is it argumentative?
Advising? Angry? Joyful?
Threatening?

36. Emotion
The use of emotion MUST
NOT be confused with
“DRAMATICS”
Delivery must be a
natural expression from
the heart with an even
modulated voice but not
monotone nor
melodramatic

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39. PERMISSION GRANTED
Please attend Holy Mass and
pray the Holy Rosary before
you use these slides for the
Holy Intentions of our
beloved Pope and for world
peace. Thank you and God
bless us all.
Thank you
Kathy
rookiekay@hotmail.com