In my past, while working with lectors in other parishes in which I participated, I found the idea of training or "enhancement" of lectors something no current lector wanted to do. They knew what to do and they did it their own way. Now that I am more mature and have been gifted this new lector coordinator position through the grace of God, I want to find a way to bring some new life into a lector ministry at a parish where most of the lectors have been doing this for five years or more, some for ten years or more.
But how do I get to the point where the lectors WANT to be trained, want to learn to bring a strong spirituality to their ministry? How many lectors actually take steps to grow as lectors? I don't know the answer to either question, but I am open to input.
When I began as a lector in the small parish I grew up in, in small town Colorado, I was told what to do (when the stand, when to bow, when to read), but I was given no formation training. All the person who trained me cared about was the mechanics. I actually remember thinking, "she sure wants to get through this fast. It must be a burden to her, to have to train me." That is an attitude I do not have when training lectors. I sure hope I don't come off that way, at least.
I began public speaking in high school and have carried it out into my 40s. I was a high school and collegiate debater and love talking (ask any of my relatives!). I see my gifts for public speaking, for being comfortable speaking to crowds, and for being a Word Nerd (Thank you, Koni, for that moniker) as gifts from God that need to be put to good use. One of the main ways I put these gifts to use is by being a lector. And I love it!
When I talk to lectors, I see that most of them have similar feelings, even going so far on occasion to say that their being a lector in their parish is a "calling" from God to serve their liturgical community through the proclamation of the Word of God.
I pray nightly now that I may be used by God as His instrument to use the talents and gifts He has provided me to make myself a better leader, make myself a better lector, and help other lectors make themselves better. Now I just need to formulate a plan for doing so.
Our Lector Ministry head approaches training in two ways. First, we have an annual meeting in October or November, ahead of the new liturgical year. This is when we get our new books (if we've ordered them) and she also goes over any general refinements to the mechanics of our ministry, as well as actual proclamation. These seem to be pretty brief and pretty generic items, although last year we spent a good 15 minutes trying to teach everyone how to pronounce the last name of our priest, who is Ugandan.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to this, she will also pay close attention during Mass, and if she notes an issue that needs to be corrected with a particular lector, she will approach them after Mass to let them know.
I don't know if more formal group training would be helpful or not. My guess is that once lectors have been in the ministry a while, the issues that need to be addressed would do better with individual attention.