Lay Readers: A Scriptural, Historical, and Lutheran Look
By Pr. Rich Futrell
Introduction
Within our lifetime, we have seen “lay readers” become the norm when it comes to the reading of scripture during worship. Although this practice is now widespread, most of us don’t know what prompted this change. For most of us, it just happened.
Lay readers in the Church today flow from the work of Gregory Dix, the founder of the modern, liturgical-renewal movement. Dix promoted using lay readers. He did this based on his understanding of the source of the Scriptures themselves. For Dix, Scripture was the byproduct of the Christian community for the Christian community. He did not so much have a higher view of Scripture guiding the Church but, instead, saw the Church as having produced the Scriptures.
In Dix’s view, since the Scriptures arose from within the Christian community, it only made sense that those from within the community should also read the Scriptures during worship. This was, for Dix, simply a case of practice flowing from what he believed.
However, Dix’s view of Scripture is not that of the Church catholic or the Lutheran Church. According to our Confessions, the Lutheran Church holds that the Scriptures come to the Christian community from God (using human writers, of course). The Christian community is not the source of the Scriptures. The Scriptures are the voice of God in written form to the Christian community.
And so, from a Lutheran worldview, the question to ask is this: “Who then is called to speak for God to a congregation during worship?” The answer? The pastor, through His divine call from the Church and his ordination into the Office of the Ministry (AC IV).
1st Timothy 4:13
In the New Testament, the Scriptures show that God speaks to His Church through the voice of her pastors. The Apostle Paul told young Pastor Timothy: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13).
St. Paul lists three particular duties that Pastor Timothy should be doing in his ministry, especially without his “father” in the faith being there:
- The public reading of Scripture,
- preaching, and
- teaching doctrine.
This passage alone is enough to tell us how the Word of God is to be handled in Christ’s Church.
But as some astute readers will note: Paul is not forbidding anyone not to do those functions; he is simply stating who is to do them. With such an understanding of the text, then anyone may publicly read the Scripture during worship, publicly preach, and publicly teach doctrine.
So it is theoretically possible that those three functions are open to anyone–since Paul forbids no one in that passage not to do those functions.
Women Readers?
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- 1 Corinthians 14:34: “The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.”
- 1 Timothy 2:11-12: “A woman should learn in silence with full submission. I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to be silent.”
These two passages are most unpopular–but they are clear. Thus, in the context of the three, 1-Timothy-4:13 functions, Scripture forbids a woman from publicly reading the Scriptures, preaching, and teaching during worship.
This is not a case of God being “anti-woman.” This prohibition goes all the way back to our Fall into sin, where Adam and Eve reversed their God-given roles. It was than that God told the woman to submit to the man. This submission was, and is, to serve as a vehicle pointing us back to the Fall and our need for repentance and salvation (Genesis 3:6, 17; 1 Corinthians 11:8-9, 11-12).
Pastoral Functions
The historic (and Lutheran) Church understood the four Apostolic Commissions Christ gave to His Apostles to be His mandates also for pastors in the Church. This understanding recognizes the Apostles as the New Testament’s first pastors. The functions are:
- Baptize and teach (Matthew 28:16, 19-20),
- Administer the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:14-20),
- Preach (Luke 24:47), and
- Forgive and retain sins (John 20:21-24, Confession and Absolution)
Based on these passages, the only function a layman (read: a male) may do from 1 Timothy 4:13 is to publicly read the Scripture. The others are purely pastoral functions.
Yet, the authority to read the Scriptures during worship is based on an argument of silence. One can only say that such public reading of the Scriptures during worship is not forbidden. So the question to ask is, “Should we have lay readers?” If so, what is our basis for doing this other than personal preference (that is, we want to)? To help guide us, we now look to the history of the New Testament Church.
Lay Readers in the Early Church
In the early Church, the pastor was not the only one who read the Scriptures during worship. The Church did have designated readers who read the Scriptures in an assisting role to the pastor. We should note that this was a supporting office of the holy ministry, not someone representing the community. The reader served under and with the offices of pastor and bishop.
The writings of Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and On the Apostolic Tradition all show the above as the practice of the early Church. On the Apostolic Tradition, chapter 11, reads: “A reader is appointed when the bishop gives him the book. For a hand is not imposed on him [there was no laying on of hands]” (Epitome 13).
Historically, this is what we know of early Church practice:
- Lay readers were only qualified men. They were competent to read. Often, they would chant the Scriptures, which made it easier to hear them in a time without sound amplification.
- The bishop, or pastor, chose and appointed the readers. They did not volunteer. A worship committee did not select them. They were carrying out a function for which the pastor was responsible and were directly under his supervision in performing their responsibilities.
- They held an office. One did not have to be ordained (but he could be) to be in this Office of Reader. A reader was appointed into this supporting office of the pastor and he was publicly recognized as a reader. The Eastern Orthodox Churches still keep this ancient practice.
Conclusion: What Does All This Mean?
The Lutheran Church–if she is true to her Confession–may have lay readers. However, they may only be men who are well-qualified, whom the pastor chooses and appoints.
Our Augsburg Confession reads:
As can be seen, there is nothing that varies [in the Lutheran Church] from the Scriptures, or from the Church universal, or from the Church of Rome, as known from its writers.… In large part, the ancient rites are diligently observed among us. It is a false and hate-filled charge that our churches have abolished all the ceremonies instituted in ancient times. (AC XXI, “A Summary Statement”: 1, 4)
The norm for the Lutheran Church, according to our Confessions, is to retain the early practices of the Church if they are not contrary to Scripture. This is more than a yearning for nostalgia–it is an affirmation that the earliest New Testament Church is also our church. By adhering to such ancient practices, we recognize our kinship to them and affirm–though our practices–that we worship the same God as they: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
