Friends,
During Lent this year I am going to be leading a class that I’ve long wanted to facilitate, but for some reason have never quite made happen. The class will be a primer on how to read the Bible out loud.
This class is important for three reasons. First, for the most part, the Bible was written to be read out loud. The earliest faith communities that used Biblical texts didn’t have access to mass-produced Bibles (usually, they were lucky to have one scroll), and often their members were either illiterate or semi-literate. Second, how we read the Bible out loud has a bearing on how we understand the Bible, so reading the bible interpretively, out loud, deepens our connection to the holiness of the Bible. Finally, this class important because I’ve never heard of anyone teaching a class like this in a church. We learned this at Princeton Seminary but as far as I know, few pastors teach interpretive Bible reading as a way of learning the Bible.
I’ve made a video that introduces the class in a more in-depth way, including an example of what interpretive Bible reading looks and sounds like. The video takes a little over four minutes. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/yIGkzya6wSg and hopefully it will answer most of the questions you might have.
So I hope you will join the class. I’m really looking forward to it. It is scheduled for 3 Sundays following Celebration: February 18 & 25 and March 3. I’ve also set aside two Saturdays (3/9 and 3/16) at 11am if needed to make sure everyone has a chance to participate fully.
If you want to join, or have any questions about the class, please email me at ben@mpcfamily.org and I’ll answer your questions and/or put you on the list .
God’s Peace,
Ben