Lay Readers
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Reading The Word of the Lord
By Kerry Baldwin
Lay readers are an important part of the church worship service. They read aloud the lesson each Sunday to the congregation - a wonderful way to hear the Word of God!
Whenever there is a fifth Sunday in a month, Our Saviour replaces the Holy Eucharist service with a Morning Prayer or an Evening Prayer service. This past Sunday, twelve-year-old Ryan Iseman read passages from 2 Thessalonians and Luke 19.
Ryan became a lay reader about a year ago. He recalls “I was thinking about becoming a reader because I love theater and I realized that my whole family does it. I tried out and Father Joe let me do it.
For Ryan, being in front of an audience is fun. “I like speaking in front of a lot of people. It builds confidence. I find pleasure in performing and I find it fun and always interesting.”
To prepare for his readings, he practices beforehand by looking them over and then reading them out loud to his mom and dad. This helps him think about what the reading is saying and what story it’s trying to tell. “Doing this gives me a better understanding of how to pronounce things and what words to emphasize. Reading the story many times helps me do that.”
Besides being a lay reader, Ryan’s love of theater led him to last year’s Live Nativity, where he played the role of a non-speaking wise man. This year he is moving up to a speaking role as a town crier.
When asked about his life at Our Saviour he said “I like the atmosphere and the people. I like that we’re helping at Crown Point Elementary which I think is really good because we’re helping out in the community. It’s not just a church, we help other people and are kind to people. I’m really happy at this church.”
Thanks be to God, for Ryan Iseman!