Is there a magic number for the length of a sermon? At what point are we catering to cultural sensibilities that are averse to truth-discovery and serious spiritual formation? These are a couple of questions raised in response to my last post. Sermon length is such a critical topic that I want to return to it again. Thanks to Mark, Bob, and Robert for their thoughtful insights.
In my opinion, the magic number for sermon length is . . .
. . . something which preachers have to determine for the particular congregations they serve. In other words, I refuse to claim that 35 minutes is best or 25 is always the best. It depends on the context – that is, the particular preacher and the particular listeners engaged in delivering and listening to the sermon. Some pastors preach for 40 minutes, and the time flies by. Others preach for 30 minutes, and it feels like 45 minutes!
My reason for settling on 30 minutes for myself (at least for now) is that it represents a compromise. A man in my congregation says: “I don’t care who’s preaching, after 20 minutes I check out.” Personally, this is where I feel an obligation to stretch this listener and help him learn to follow an extended presentation as opposed to reducing my sermon to a sound byte. Teaching people to think biblically requires them to track arguments, experience poetic language, understand proverbs and parables (see Proverbs 1:6), and follow the plot lines of a story. This takes time! Still, I recognize that I preach in a culture with shorter attention spans. I must find a way to accommodate this and change it at the same time! That’s the tension I feel!
By the way, even if our particular congregation can handle 45 minutes, do we make an adjustment if we typically get a fair number of newcomers – even non-believers – who are not used to 45 minutes? My point is that there are multiple factors which shape our determination of the magic number.
Here’s a final idea. From time to time, I preach a sermon on ‘how to listen to a sermon.’ This sets expectations and challenges listeners to listen well. Texts which address this issue include: Ezekiel 33:30-33, Mark 4:1-25, Acts 17:10-12, and 1 Thessalonians 2:13. How have you addressed this matter of listening to a sermon in your own setting? How have you communicated the expectations you set for yourself and for the people to whom you preach?
Posted by Steve Mathewson at 9:12 AM on April 13, 2007
Comments
We often hear that attention spans have shrunk, and they certainly have if you're talking about attention given to a long speech/argument. But they certainly haven't if you look at the crowds at the movies. It depends what we ask our listeners to pay attention to. A clearly organized sermon, delivered with authenticity by a loving pastor, that uses some interaction and word pictures (or real pictures!) will hold attention.
Posted by: Jeff Arthurs on April 19, 2007
Well, a movie is different in that it's telling a story, which people can pay attention to more easily for a longer period. However, a sermon is usually teaching, and education classes usually say that 20 min is the optimal chunk of learning time, and after that even the most conscientious student will likely tune out unless there's a break.
Posted by: Michelle on April 21, 2007