Readers in Churches of Christ, Scientist, feel the challenge of tremendous opportunity. They read to expectant congregations messages that are spiritually radical in premise, revolutionary in promise, and both tender and persuasive in appeal.
For you and me as hearers, the opportunity is no less challenging. Hearing becomes the complement of reading. If we are members of the church, we know that the Readers have been chosen by us, the listeners. We appreciate the fact, made clear in Christian Science, that both the reading and its message really proceed from the same basis—God's message. God's allness, with its message of power and beauty and its applicability to human need, is Truth's self-expression.
To read effectively in public from the Bible, and Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, has been called an art. Appreciation of the beauty and meaning of the texts shows itself in clarity, right pause and emphasis, and regard for language skills. The daily study of these books and the practice of what is learned from them make the art of reading aloud available to anyone who himself learns and listens.
