Poll: Amen Corner

As another BBer told me a few months back, an amen corner is not just people in the crowd who say amen, but a section near the preacher who occasionally say amen to spur the preacher on.
An ego boost to his self confidence.

 

Our church doen't have an "amen corner," you can hear amens all over the sanctuary.

 

Our church is an A-MEN! corner, with the occasional "oh-me" when the preaching hits home.

 

This is more or less a modern thing. From reading his biography (Iain Murray, author), Martyn Lloyd Jones seemed to really dislike it. Felt it distracted away from the message and drew attention to the one making the racket.

 

The church we're at now must have a "No Amen" policy. We had a man from Iowa visit. He let out hearty AMEN! in the middle of the preachers sermon. Several choir members chuckled and other choir members woke up.

The pastor was so stunned he stopped, looked at the man and said "thank you, I also do weddings, anniversaries and holiday services". The pastor went on to say that to often we hear amen when things don't pertain to God. And that it would be better to hear amen spoken in church as an affirmation or being in agreement about God's word.

 

I have no problem with an occasional "amen" when the preacher makes a particularly good point. I particularly like them when the preacher says something that might be controverswal or could offend the carnal Christian and folks in the church are letting him know that they support him. I DO have a problem when people yell, or say amen about every 20 seconds and it doesn't really seem to matter what the preacher said. He could say that he had eggs for breakfast and some guy in the back will yell, "Amen, brother, preach it". I have even heard at some churches the amen corner using about as many words as the preacher and most of them being almost a chant. I mean, come on, people if saying an amen is OK then fine, but, too much of any incredient will ruin the receipe.