Rehearsing Scripture: Discovering God's Word in Community

by Anna Carter Florence

SCRIPTURE. We can study it carefully. We can listen to sermons on it and read what the experts say about it. But in the end, says Anna Carter Florence, Scripture needs to be rehearsed and encountered—and we can do that best in community with others. In this book Florence offers concrete, practical tools for reading and rehearsing Scripture in groups. Suitable for new and seasoned Bible readers alike, Florence’s Rehearsing Scripture invites solitary readers to become community readers as well—to gather around a shared text and encounter God anew together.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

215 pages, Paperback

Published July 11, 2018

Reviews

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

The colorful cover as well as the concept of “rehearsing” God’s word intrigued me. I soon found out that author Anna Carter Florence, Peter Marshall Professor of Preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary, means to have worshipers rehearse Scripture together within the context of a group. Applying techniques from theater and drama, she shows how to energize oft-heard spiritual wisdom and to enhance its use in our daily lives. 5/5

Grateful to NetGalley and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
for an advance copy. Opinions are mine.

#RehearsingScripture #NetGalley

[Emily Shafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a good book :) Anna Carter Florence balances pastoral and scholarly writing so well, and in this book she guides you through appropriately engaging scripture, finding ourselves in the story, and ultimately saying something true of God out of it all. This book emphasized for me more than ever the importance of reading in community, and I'm really excited to put her activities for rehearsing scripture into practice.

[Sarah Roe-Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book, which gave me a new perspective on how to read Scripture. Breathed new life into a well worn rhythm. Read it with a book club and that made the experience so impactful!

[Adam Metz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An invitation to see Scripture as a script to rehearse, Florence lays out a way to read the Bible that focuses on the verbs of a given text in search of it's meaning for us today. Too often in focusing on the nouns we get lost in rabbit trails and distance ourselves from the message. She uses her experience in theater classes and training to present a new way of immersing ourselves in the Bible that I think helps make familiar texts fresh and gives permission to ask new questions. Her approach is incredibly practical and the book is filled with examples of using this method. I think it has better prepared me to look anew and scriptures and to read with a broader community who brings their own eyes and ears to the text.

[Alyssa Foll · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely brilliant book on "performing" and rehearsing Scripture in a group context. Anna Carter Florence draws on her background in theater and her years of teaching as a homiletics professor and pulls out fresh ways of engaging Scripture.
This is not a highly theoretical book, but is practical, tightly focused, and perfect for groups to use in encountering Scripture in a new way. While this book is not intended for preachers or for sermon preparation, I found myself filled with new ideas to use in study for preaching and for rehearsing together in community.
Highly recommended.

[Beth Quick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished Anna Carter Florence's book Rehearsing Scripture: Discovering God's Word in Community. I suspected I would like it, because she's such fantastic preacher, but it exceeded even those expectations. Chapter 7, on reading Mark 5, was particularly profound. I will admit to weeping, it was just so moving, looking at this chapter in some new ways. And I've already found it impacting my personal reading of scripture, so I'm looking forward to seeing how I can draw on it while reading scripture together. Definitely recommend.

[Kelsey Grissom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book in order to turn it into Sunday school lessons, which I did, although it was painstaking. Florence’s tone throughout is easy, but this is an academic book best suited for seminary classrooms. The author can’t decide on a central theme (rehearsing, or diagramming sentences?) and it is obvious these are preaching-class lectures that have been loosely edited together. There’s some good exegesis here, but it would have been a better book with a lot more editing and some new writing.

[MaryAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me wish I were serving a church, because I'd love to engage some folks in this process of scriptural engagement! I hope this finds a wide audience.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pastor's bible study Spring 2021.....

[Claire Dillashaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is stunning! Read it for a class on Bible study in the local church. It fueled my love for the Bible and parishioners. ACF is a really special author.

[Dennis Podryadchikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

A professor of rhetoric offers a reading of Scripture based on a theatrical approach of searching for "something true" by rehearsing Scripture. Anna Carter Florence focuses on verbs, as opposed to nouns, in order to communicate the actions of the biblical characters into the lives of a Bible study group. In the form of sermons, Florence provides questions, prompts, and tools to facilitate a rehearsal. One wishes that the author would have laid a theological, or, at least, scriptural, basis for her reading. As the book provides a lot of food for thought, it can give a refreshed view of reading the Bible.

[April Bumgardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, inspiring read. Although I was wanting a little more concrete language after following all the metaphors of theater, Anna Carter Florence provides a strong apology for experiencing the biblical text in a truer, fresher way.

Practical how-tos for reading communally, picking out the verbs, staying in the scene, and learning how to say something true about God.

Particularly poignant are her descriptions of the rape of Tamar from 2 Samuel 13 and her seminarians’ experience of Purim at the synagogue.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna Carter Florence is a fine preacher who teaches the average preacher a few tricks of the trade. Love her work in this book..

[Lisa Davison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author presents an intriguing way to read biblical texts that might work for lay audiences. However, it is not a good resource for those engaging in the critical interpretation of biblical texts. Given the focus on "verbs" and "nouns," the approach is based on translations of the text. Thus, the "rehearsing of scripture" would be different if another translation was chosen. The book might work well for church bible study groups, particularly a repertory group.