People shifted in their seats as I walked toward the podium to read for the first time in my family\u2019s new Florida church. It was much bigger than the Ohio church where I had grown up and studied to be a lector with Clarence Rivers, a well-known writer of liturgical music. When I signed up for his class, I\u2019d never really spoken in public before, but I knew I wanted to play a more active role in the church service.<\/p>\n
Approaching the podium now I remembered those early Saturday classes in an old stone church building without any heat. Five of us shivered in our coats on winter mornings, but it was worth it. Father Rivers was a strict teacher\u2014he expected a lot from us. But he was also inspiring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you read Scripture, I want you to reach down inside yourselves,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to learn to find your untapped voice. That\u2019s what you\u2019ll use to bring God\u2019s words to life.\u201d He believed we could do it, and he made us believe we could do it too.<\/p>\n