Hannah Stanton One of the readers

We in the parish of St. James, Hampton Hill, have within these last ten years had two long interregnums; during these there has been much for the Readers to do to keep the smooth running of the church going.

What do Readers do?
First and foremost, Readers take part in the regular church services: at the Holy Eucharist they may be required to read the Gospel and the other Old and New Testament readings, lead the intercessions, preach and administer the chalice at the Communion. Readers can be responsible for the informal services and for Mattins and Evensong if required. Additional duties may be involved, such as the changing of the altar frontal etc. in accordance with the required seasonal colours, and acquaintance with the lectionary is useful here.

In all these areas Readers are part of the congregation, they are one’s fellow members in the church and part of its family, but anyone thinking of becoming a Reader must envisage a period of training for the work they may be required to do.

Readers are not licensed until they have followed a recognised and supervised course leading to the General Readers’ Certificate; this comprises a course on Biblical foundations, courses on Christian Traditions and Church History, and on the work of a Reader. Qualification is awarded on assessment. Local groups of Readers also meet together and discuss various issues of pastoralia, for example, bereavement visiting, the Aids issue and so forth.

The Parish Church is available to all who live in the parish for baptisms, marriages, burials and cremations. They must be catered for even if there is no vicar, so the services of a local priest must be obtained when necessary, although Readers can officiate at burials and cremations, and can prepare parents for the baptism of their children and cope with the arrangements for marriages. All these occasions give the Reader the chance to get to know people who are outside the church. This is a most important role; what sort of image of the church is the Reader putting over?

Visiting the sick and lonely must not be forgotten, nor the care of those who are admitted to hospital. Visits are much appreciated, and opportunities are never-ending.

Readers are dependent, however, on whether their Vicar is disposed to use them. In St. James’s Church there is a tradition of involvement of the laity, so that not only the Readers but many church members are involved in the various activities, services, visiting and arrangements. There is, in churches where there is good lay participation, an integration and coherence which links up a parish with St. Paul’s local congregations of God’s people, and the Readers are an integral part of this coherence. Part of their regular prayers should be for and in the congregation, and for their calling to be a strength in the fellowship of the church.

Source: Hannah Stanton, The Spire Magazine - 1990 February