Diocese of Down & Dromore

In early December last year 5 diocesan lay readers were commissioned by the Bishop. One of them was Lynn McFarland, commissioned to serve in Dromore Cathedral and she reflects below on her first few months in the role:

"Having had a 'rest' over Christmas I was eager to start service in Dromore Cathedral. I’ve had ‘on the job’ training at the 10am (Family Service), 11.30am and 6pm services over the past couple of years so my first full Sunday of duties wasn’t quite as nerve wracking as it could have been. Our clergy make it all look so easy, even the practicalities of not tripping on the long cassock. Coming to grips with remembering to lead the service in the Prayer Book has been demanding. As a lifelong Anglican I have only responded with the ‘words in bold" so there have been a few occasions where I hear only silence and then realise it’s me who should be speaking!

An important challenge is learning how to write the sermon and how to preach. Most of this will be self taught, with advice from clergy. Of course there are many textbooks to help me, such as Bishop Harold Miller’s book "The Desire of Our Soul (A User’s Guide to The Book of Common Prayer)”, which was one of our course texts. This reinforced the importance I already gave the sermon. Bishop Harold writes “The sermon is of course a vital part of regular Sunday worship. It is the time for the word of God to be broken open, and related to the lives of people.” The book reminds the reader that “God can use preaching to change people’s lives.”  This sentiment was echoed when I expressed my fear of the responsibility of preaching (as I saw it). I was concerned for visitors and new souls arriving at church expecting a dog collar and getting me. What if I wasn’t good enough? It was liberating to be reminded by some kind words of wisdom, that I only say the words and the Holy Spirit takes over. Enjoy seems too light a word to use for sermon preparation, but I have a message, a truth, to proclaim and I want to make sure everyone can get a taste of my happiness.

Being honest, I find my role is personally rewarding in a way that the fruits of all my adult academic studies over the past 20 years have never been. Getting all my Lay Reader essays and reading fitted in around my family, work and parish commitments was never a burden even though it required a fair bit of juggling. I’m taking a ‘rest’ from formal study at the moment, but hope to continue, though I’m learning to be Spirit led. 

I didn’t proclaim too loudly when I was reading a particular service for the first time and quite literally found it difficult to take in that I was actually at the front leading worship using the forms of words which personally mean so much to me. Again, I want to share the words with as many people as possible and inside I want to shout some of the words. I content myself with singing and talking very loudly at times, smiling a lot and unfortunately occasionally for me get so lost in my own selfish enjoyment that I lose my place! There have been a few different versions of the Prayer Book in my lifetime and having studied a bit around the history of the Prayer Book I feel a connection with both the past and the future.

Then finally, there are the people I meet as I travel along and I’ve been a ‘people person’ all my life. Life is fleeting and my aim is to have touched the world, these people in Christ’s name in some small way. But it’s not just touch and move on, ticking some imaginary box - I care for these people. All my academic achievements, my professional accolades and my possessions, are but nothing and life started again when I could openly confess Christ as my Saviour. Looking back over the past few years at what I’ve written for Dromore Cathedral’s Parish Post, I can see a spiritual development, and I pray that this kind of development continues in my Lay Reader service. "

Lynn