Bringing the Word to Life

In today's world of fleeting images and quick sound-bites, television and social media work against our giving reflective attention to reading. This can also affect the public reading of Bible passages in settings of church worship and outreach .

A related problem is that regular worshippers may have heard particular passages read so often that they unconsciously switch off when the reading begins, especially if it is read in a levelled-out, liturgical voice. They wait instead for a dynamic preacher to tell them what to believe.

In this manual, Brian Hill suggests a variety of ways to present public readings of Bible extracts (PROBES) that seek to recapture the attention of hearers and prompt reflection on the actual text. The idea is not to replace regular direct reading from the Bible, but to provide occasional teasers, drawing on various literary and dramatic devices such as paraphrasing and using multiple readers, in the hope that hearers will then be prompted to check out for themselves what the Bible is actually saying.

Read on and revive public Bible reading in your group!