Trinity A, May 22, 2005 -- Dramatic Reading

After several requests, here is the dramatic reading from class using John 1 and Genesis 1. This would be appropriate at Trinity A, which is May 22, 2005, Easter Vigil ABC, Baptism B, Christmas Eve ABC, Christmas 2A, 2B or 2C. I like it particularly on Trinity, since it weaves the triune nature of God into one reading. One person at the Pulpit, one at Lecturn works well. Practice is essential. If time is of essence, it can be shortened from the end of the first day, marked with an asterisk to the second asterisk. Enjoy!

Voice 1 : In the beginning God (beat)

Voice 2 : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God

Unison : In the beginning
Voice 1 : (no pause) God created

Unison : the heavens and the earth.

Voice 2: Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Voice 1: Now the earth was formless and empty,

Unison : (staggered ) darkness
Voice 1 : was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was

Unison : light.

Voice 2 : In him was life, and that life was the light (beat)

Voice 1 : light

Voice 2 : of men.

Voice 1 : God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the

Unison : (staggered )darkness.

Voice 2 : The light shines in the

Unison : (staggered ) darkness,

Voice 2: but the darkness (beat)

Voice 1 : darkness

Voice 2: has not understood it.

Voice 1 : God called the light "day," and the

Unison : (staggered) darkness

Voice 1: he called "night." And there was evening,

Voice 2: and there was morning

*Unison: --the first day.(pause)

Voice 1 : So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day.

Voice 2: There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.

Voice 1: And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Voice 2: And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.

Voice 1 : And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Voice 2: He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

Unison : And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.

Voice 1: And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."

Voice 2 : And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day.

Voice 1 : And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Voice 2 : He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

Voice 1 : Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Voice 2: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Voice 1 : God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Unison: And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day. (beat)

*Unison : The Word

Voice 2: became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Voice 1 : In the beginning God (pause)

Voice 2 : In the beginning was

Unsion : the Word,

Voice 2: and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God

Unison : In the beginning