Timothy was sent by Paul to preside over the church in Ephesus and restore it to order in light of a problem with its elders (cf. 1 Tim 1:3–5). In doing so, his attention to the weekly assembly was to ensure the presence of several components, three of which are mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:13. Paul commanded, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching” (1 Tim 4:13).
I believe that this command is prescriptive for the church today. The text literally reads “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, the exhortation, the teaching.” The definite article for each item assumes their regular place at the weekly assembly. Other texts assume and example the reading of letters as well (e.g., 1 Thess 5:27; Col 4:16; Rev 1:3).
A Scripture reading may look very different from one church to the next. Some have a single person read. Other churches engage the congregation by reading responsively, alternating between the lead reader and everyone reading together, typically alternating at each verse. Some churches use overhead screens to project the text. Some use only Bibles. Some congregations stand. Some do not. Some read whole chapters. Some read shorter texts. Some read a chapter of a book each week to go through the Bible. Some churches pick a text related to the sermon or the sermon text itself.
For our church, I usually pick a text somehow related to our sermon. We have a handful of men who rotate for the Scripture reading. My advice in such a situation is that the reader needs to read well―not in a flowery manner, but does well to emphasize appropriately. He should practice out loud beforehand and make sure he knows how to pronounce every word properly. Personally, I find that responsive reading is distracting because I am always waiting for when to read rather than focusing wholly on the import of what is being read. With a good reader, people can follow along and grasp the reading well.
By no means does our manner of Scripture reading stand as a prime example for others. Whatever the case, I do think Paul’s command to Timothy stands for leaders of the church today. Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, whether it is you as the pastor, or someone else to whom you have delegated this responsibility.