Length of Sermons

[Helen]

Helen, It's great you're bringing folks from the assisted living complex. :thumbs: But, I think you were setting yourself for failure. An 11am service and trying to have your guests back for lunch at Noon? That's only 1 hour and doesn't count driving time to the assisted living home....assuming it's not next door. Most Baptist services (SBC I'm familar with) are at least 1 hour to 1.5 hours in duration.

In a sense I agree with you. But this is the nearest church to them and the pastor is reaching out to them. So we really do have to accomodate them. There are some options I can think of myself, and one is to treat them (right now there are only five of them) to lunch after church as a special outing. Another is simply to make special arrangements with the care facility.

About diabetics, I am one. Don't worry too much about us. I keep some Jordan almonds in my purse. A tiny bit of quick sugar and the protein in the nut and I'm good to go if things run a bit long. Only takes one or two of them.

 

[Bro. James Reed]

There is almost always another preacher at church when I am, as I don't have any set appointments yet and have not come under the hands of a presbytery.

I typically go first and preach for about 25 to 30 minutes. The next preacher then follows me and preaches for another 25 or 30 minutes, sometimes more and sometimes less.

On the few occassions when I've held an appointment where there were no other preacher brethren present, I have taken anywhere from 50 minutes to an hour. It just depends on what I have on my mind.

It has been hammered home to me though, if there is another preacher going right after you, you should leave at least as much time for that preacher as you took.

On a typical Sunday at a typical PB church, singing will last from 10:30 to 11 and preaching from 11 to 12.

During weekend meetings, we usually allow an hour and a half for each preaching service, with 30 mins. of singing for each. Depending on the number of ministers present, there will be 3 preachers back to back for roughly 30 mins each, or 2 preachers back to back for roughly 45 mins. each. Rarely, you will see 4 preachers back to back for 20 to 30 minutes each. That is very rare though. I've never seen anymore than that together without taking a break in between. You will almost never see just one preacher take a whole service at a weekend meeting. There are typically a couple dozen preachers present, at a good size meeting, and we usually try to get most of them preached, if possible.

As for me, one hour is about my limit because I start to lose my voice any longer. It actually starts to break up between 30 and 40 minutes in, or quicker if I've been fired up for some reason or the song service was long or full of high songs.

I have sometimes been witness to preachers going an hour and a half by themselves without stopping. In my opinion, that is too long. I usually need to visit the facilities before then.:smilewinkgrin:

 

[Tom Butler]

On a mission trip to Romania, my pastor and I were invited to a Baptist church on Sunday morning. When we arrived, we found that the service had already been going on for an hour. The pastor was away, and the deacon in charge told my pastor that they had already heard one sermon. I was expected to sing a couple or three solos, and would he please try to hold his message down to 45 minutes.

BTW, every service we were in was at least two hours.

 

[LeBuick]

I'm a lot shorter than I was in the past. I've even done a few 20 minute sermons at 8AM service. I'm using less points and trying not to linger. I've actually received a couple of complaint's, they feel cheated that I've shortened up a bit. I guess there's no pleasing everybody but I'd rather leave them wanting more than to feel I've over stayed my welcome.

 

[Jim1999]

There is the story about the church that was lacking funds, and the pastor decided to preach on tithing and giving. He started out fine and after ten minutes had the richest man in the congregation convinced to give more. Another five minutes and the man had his wallet in hand. Another fifteen minutes and the man put his wallet back in his pocket.

He told the preacher later when asked about giving, You at first had me convinced, but as you got carried away and went on longer, I was convinced the message was for others and put my wallet where it did more good.

In this busy world, people do have commitments beyond the morning service. Some even sing at other services or missions. If you can't get your message across in 20 minutes, believe me, you can't get it across in 40 minutes. That is what the study is for...........study your message well, and be ready to preach what you have studied. Far too many preachers have so many side streets from their message the people get lost.

Cheers,

Jim

The road may be paved, but it has potholes!

 

[Karen]

I agree that people ought to be able to sit through 45 minutes of preaching when they sit through a 2 hour movie. But, bluntly, our preaching is not as interesting as a good movie. We take the best news ever told and often present it in the most boring way. I don't think many people would sit through a movie if it was one person speaking for the entire 2 hours...........

I have heard this argument a lot. But you have not necessarily described many, many people. I will go ahead and admit that I very rarely sit through a 2 hour movie. I very rarely go to the movies, but when I do, I find it hard to stay awake in the dark theater.
At home, I don't sit down and watch tv for hours. I am always moving around moving laundry, doing whatever.
Also, I just plain have an easier time reading than listening.
I suspect there are many people like me.

Yes, I go to church several times a week. But contrary to mnw and Tom, I do not think that it automatically shows a warm heart if a person easily sits still and listens to a 65 minute sermon, and a cold heart if that is a struggle.

 

[mnw]

Who has the greatest responsibility in a sermon? The preacher or the listener?

 

[Tom Bryant]

I have heard this argument a lot. But you have not necessarily described many, many people. I will go ahead and admit that I very rarely sit through a 2 hour movie. I very rarely go to the movies, but when I do, I find it hard to stay awake in the dark theater.
At home, I don't sit down and watch tv for hours. I am always moving around moving laundry, doing whatever.
Also, I just plain have an easier time reading than listening.
I suspect there are many people like me.

I think you may have proved my point. We don't sit still for very long anymore. But if something is riveting, we sit and listen. I believe pastors ought to work hard at making the time they have to preach the absolutely best investment of time in a person's week. As a 12 yo, I remember standing for 45 minutes as I listened to Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. I had never stood for 45 minutes in my life... but what he said engaged me. I believe Pastors ought to engage people in their sermons

Yes, I go to church several times a week. But contrary to mnw and Tom, I do not think that it automatically shows a warm heart if a person easily sits still and listens to a 65 minute sermon, and a cold heart if that is a struggle.

I must not have been very clear because that wasn't what I meant at all I really meant the opposite. I think most of our "poor" listening comes from poor preacher and preaching.

mnw - I don't think it is either or. I think that the pastor has complete responsibilty for what he preaches. I also think that the listener has complete responsibility for how she/he listens.

 

[Karen]

Thanks for your comments and for further explaining. I would add the side bar that I am not sure many people EVER sat for long periods of time. I was raised on a four-generation family farm. Sitting for long periods of time was not something that was routine.

 

[mnw]

It seems a good listener can get something no matter how bad the preacher, but the best preacher cannot get through to someone who does not want to listen.

I don't mean to diminish or ignore the impact and effect of the Holy Spirit as I know He makes all the difference.

 

[AAA]

As opening questions,

1) How long do you preach on a Sunday Morning?

2) Why do you preach for that length

3) I realise some may answer, "I preach until the Lord's says I'm done", but do you find yourself normally preaching for about the same time frame?

4) What do you think are the doctrinal, cultural, local, personal factors that influence the amount of time you preach?

.

Greetings to you in the NAME of JESUS Christ our Lord and only saviour!

I am an evangelist and I have only preached behind the pulpit 3 times during the 10 years that I have had during the ministry, but I have preached/testified many times outside of the pulpit...

1. My answer is that I preach 25-30 minutes.

2. I preach until I feel that the Holy Spirit want me to stop. We are HIS mouth piece and HE should be the one who will determin how long that we should preach.

3. yes, I agree

4....I have to give this more time to think about...

God bless you :godisgood:

 

[mnw]

Thanks for joining the discussion AAA.

 

[Mexdeaf]

I am the one who preaches more than 50 minutes. My goal is to keep it to an hour. Sunday a.m. and p.m.

Not because I am a great communicator. It is mostly due to the uniqueness of our ministry.

We work with the deaf in Mexico. They do not get much chance to sit under preaching so they are happy to sit for an hour to hear God's Word. Also it it my conviction they need to read the Word for themselves as far as it is possible (considering their lack of education) in most cases. So I give them time during the sermon to find my reference verses and read them before I sign them.

So, granted it is not like I am talking for an hour but I have their (mostly) undivided attention for that time.

As an example of the cultural differences, one year we had deaf camp and three men were speaking every night. They were supposed to limit their messages to 30 minutes, but being preachers....! I was the last preacher of the night, and it was going on 11 p.m. I approached the man in charge and told him that I did not HAVE to preach if he felt it was too late. He decided to ask the crowd, "Do you want to hear more preaching or not?" They ALL said, "We want more!" It was almost midnight when we finished up. What a refreshing change from the short attention spans in the USA!

 

[Disgruntled UK Baptist]

20-25 minutes (which is not an option given in the poll). The reason? That is what will fit in an hour service. Actually in UK mainstream denominations that would be considered a long sermon - my mother cringed when I told her how long I preached for! :laugh:

But as we all know, you can listen to a 15 minute sermon and have it feel like an hour, or you can listen to an hour's sermon and want another hour, it all depends on the preacher.

D

 

[Squire Robertsson]

How Long

I actually speak depends on if I'm being interupted, erm, interperted or not. I aim for 20-30 minutes over all.

 

[j_barner2000]

1) How long do you preach on a Sunday Morning?
Typically between 20-30 min. I make a point of trying to plan for that time frame.

2) Why do you preach for that length
Some pastors have the ability to keep attention for longer, but I find that this is the length of time I can keep the attention of the congregation. The folks seem to be better able to retain what I have exposited at that length of time.

I realise some may answer, "I preach until the Lord's says I'm done", but do you find yourself normally preaching for about the same time frame?
Pretty much the planned 25 min. target.

What do you think are the doctrinal, cultural, local, personal factors that influence the amount of time you preach?

The poll, hopefully, has enough answers to cover all bases.

Let's take a normal Sunday Morning sermon for the poll and try to average out the length.[/quote]

 

[pastor_brad]

I try to target 30 min but occasionally I surprise the people and end sooner. I find it is most effective to draw only one truth from the Scriptures and hit that one truth home in the lives of my listeners. If I can't do that in thirty minutes, then I should have spent more time preparing my message. I generally find that the less time I have to prepare a message, the more time it takes to preach it.

 

[blackbird]

35-40 minutes

 

[reformedbeliever]

It is usually around 45 minutes. I am purposely trying to reduce the time to 25 to 35 max. I agree that expository messages are hard to do in less than 30.

 

[BCF Jeff]

In my first preaching experiences, prior to attending college, I would try to exegete one passage. However I would do this in about 10 minutes because I spoke to quickly and dug to shallow. Feeling that I was expected to preach longer I would then repreach that passage and then comment on other passage for 20-30 minutes.

In college my homoletics professer advised us to preach one point and then sit down. I have taken that to mean that when I preach I ought to exegete the text and expound on the focus of the passage with out chasing down every possible rabbit.

Fresh out of college it took me 40-45 minutes to preach a sermon. As time has gone on a have preached shorter messages. On average I now preach 25-35 minute messages. However I have finished a message in 15 minutes. When I finish far ahead of schedule I do not repeat my message or fill space by rambling on. I close with an invitation and then we might sing an extra hymn or two.