At the Good Friday service I attended the scripture passages were read by three clergy and not by lay persons. I found this most welcome, simply because clergy are generally better readers than many lay persons.

On page 322 of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer is this rubric: "Lay persons appointed by the celebrant should normally be assigned the reading of the Lessons which precede the Gospel..." There is no similar rubric in earlier prayer books so lay persons "normally reading the lessons" has become customary in many parishes only in the last quarter of a century.

For 10 years before I retired, I was on the diocesan staff and visited and officiated at services in many parishes. Since retirement I have continued trying to be useful, and last year held services in 11 parishes and was in the congregation at several others.

The poor quality of the reading by many lay persons caused me to try to do something constructive. I organized conferences for lay persons on "How to Read the Bible Aloud," and we held these in four areas of the Diocese of Alabama. Attendance at the one in Birmingham was 165 persons, a few of whom were clergy, but obviously lay persons there welcomed this opportunity to improve. We began Saturday mornings at 10, and after a free lunch adjourned about 2 p.m.

Assisting me were a university professor of public speaking, a priest with a master's degree in speech, several clergy who were excellent readers, and a student majoring in drama at the University of Alabama.

I won't summarize the several presentations, but the student and I did a sort of skit. I would begin reading a passage very poorly, and she kept interrupting me and suggesting how I could do better. Under her tutelage I ended up reading rather well. She then also read one of the lessons for the following Sunday which illustrated how splendidly a 20-year-old might read. The skit also emphasized that everyone should not only welcome critical comments, but should actually ask to receive them.

Those present were divided into groups of six or seven, with one of the staff members or clergy in each as critics. Every person would read to the group the lessons for the following Sunday.

The advice we have continued to urge is, "Practice reading the passage several times. Read it so it makes sense to you. Slower. Louder." We also urged at the end of a reading to pause, look up at the congregation, and then say, "The word of the Lord." When there is no pause, "The word of the Lord" can seem part of the last biblical sentence. Once, at an ordination, I heard a lay person read the passage from Isaiah which ends, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I, send me." This reader made no pause so what we heard was, "Here am I, send me the word of the Lord."

I appreciate the values and significance of lay persons reading the lessons, and some read extremely well. In many parishes a printout of the lessons and gospel is included in the Sunday bulletin, and so instead of looking at the reader at the lectern, heads are bowed over the printed sheet. One wonders, however, whether the printed sheets are provided because it is expected that people would not really hear the Bible message from poor readers, or whether for all to have the biblical passages in hand would increase their understanding of the scripture passages.

In any case, this is a revival of what all previous prayer books before the present one did; that is they printed the epistle and gospel for every Sunday and feast days day the whole year.

I have heard many lay persons read the Bible very effectively. I remember one in the parish where I was priest associate. She was a 14-year-old then, and I heard her read a number of times through her teen years. She was loud enough, slow enough, and mysteriously caused everyone to pay special attention when she was at the lectern. I know an architect, a retired business man, a school teacher, and a social worker, all of whom read very well. Their participation in the Eucharist is helpful to all.

Not all clergy are good readers, but most should be for two reasons. One of these reasons was apparently implied at the Ordination of a Deacon in the older prayer books, but not the present BCP. The bishop would address the ordinand asking if he would do several things which the bishop said, "Appertaineth to the Order of Deacons," and one of these was "to read Holy Sciptures in the Church." The ordinand replied, "I will do so with God's help." The implication was that because the ordinand had theological training and intensive biblical study, he would be able to read the holy scriptures to the congregation with insight and understanding. One of the things he was being ordained to do was to read the Bible aloud in a church service.

Most clergy have had public speaking training either in college or in seminary, and this should enable them to read effectively. I know a clergyman, however, who went to the seminary after 10 years in business. His second parish was in Tuscaloosa. Aware that his speech and reading skills needed improvement, he began taking courses one at a time in public speaking at the University of Alabama. His effectiveness in the pulpit, lectern and reading the service markedly improved.

None of us reads or speaks as well as we could. Let each of us ask for criticism, and let each of us seek to read the Bible aloud as well as we can. It deserves our best because it is indeed "The word of the Lord." o

The Rev. Emmet Gribbin is a retired priest who lives in Northport, Ala.