The title “5 Ways to Shorten Your Sermon” naturally caught my eye. If you preach you’ve experienced it from both sides. When you’re preaching, the clock is ticking! Most every congregation has it’s “clock watchers” – those self-appointed keepers of the preacher’s time (BB, JY, EC, that’s for you). Somewhere along the way they heard someone say or they determined how long a sermon should be and now they let you know when you’ve overshot.
So, I’m wondering” How long is too long? I went back and checked…there are two definitive schools of thought – both center around 20-25 minutes. One school says, “if you don’t preach at least 25 minutes you can’t be feeding folks.” the other says “if you preach over 25 minutes people will turn you off. If you can’t hit oil after 20 minutes quit drilling.” Both are wrong and both are right. Gus Nichols often preached an hour or longer and he grew a local congregation to be very strong in his day (reminder: You are not Gus Nichols). On the other hand, Jim Franks, a friend called him “15 minute Franks” preached roughly 15 minutes each week and the church grew well in his time there.
So the truth is preaching has little to do with a pre-defined time. Take the time to communicate the truth you are trying to communicate but don’t try to tell the church everything in one sitting. Your job is to preach truth in a way people can understand and learn to live and die from – not to watch the clock. But always be aware of your audience. The issue is not always time – it is more often content. But here are some thoughts:
- If you are a guest speaker and are told how long to speak, honor it! Don’t be a jerk and abuse the invitation. If you need more time, ask for it up front. If you are not told, ask how long the local guy normally speaks. If you can’t adjust – frankly speaking – you aren’t much of a communicator.
- Less is more: Go over your notes – what gets the point across? What is important? What can be cut and still get the message to people.
- Watch your audience. If they are disengaged you need to figure out why. If one guy or gal is – don’t let the affect you – they may be on medication that is making them drossy. But if most everyone is out, you may be the medication putting them to sleep. Read Jesus’ sermons, see how He connected with His audiences. He is after all the Master!
- Respect the time of guests: If they come anticipating a service to last an hour and it is going to be longer – let them know up front if possible. If not let them know at the end how long it normally will last.
- Be unpredictable: If people learn to know that you will take the time to cover the text or the topic you are preaching/teaching on – whether it take 10 minutes of 40 minutes – they will come to trust that you are preparing and not just filling time.
Just for the fun of it I went back and checked my sermon lengths over the last six months: 39.20, 19.09, 32.52, 31.20, 38.03, 28.28,30.44, 25.27,22.36, 23.58, 30.48, 29.50, 33.54, 26.06, 29.56, 42.26, 31.47, 33.13, 24.58, 27.34, 25.50, 9.08, 14.39, 27.45.
Thanks for the shout out Dale. As I have shared with you on many occasions and others….. There is a time for all Seasons…and your time is up at 10:50!
18-20 minutes from what I was taught and was suggested to…and I agree with that…should be enough to get me and to hold me.
Television shows that are a continuance and have a part two will bring good numbers back. Shows with poor scripts which turn out to be a dud will lose an audience and eventually the show may be canceled.
I reminded by a preacher when up against the clock…would say, “our time is gone and the message is yours”
Its ok to have part 2.
I’d say that may be why you got “de-deac’ed” but I know it was your choice
. But we did OK for a while didn’t we 
It was a great ! and yes it was my decision to become the Dedeacon and took a lot grief for “retiring”….apparently some indicated that scripturally it was not allowed…must have been referenced in II Hezekiah.
This topic reminds me of sitting in a small Church in Middle TN many years where the preacher indicated the time was up and that Notre Football Highlites will be on shortly. (with Lindsey Nelson)
Dale, Pretty good post – just a little long.
JK!
No really, Good stuff – I needed to hear it. Thanks for all you do brother.
So, I just eliminated point 12 from my outline! I needed to hear this as well. Had been thinkin’ about it anyway. Thanks!
Paul Murphy, an old long-ago preacher friend of mine, now deceased, preach for a period of time in Foley, AL. He had a “clock watcher” in the congregation, and Murphy did not like “clock watchers.” (Well, it wasn’t the person he didn’t like; it was the fact that the person watched the clock.) One Sunday morning, the “clock watcher” kept holding up his watch to see what time it was, all too apparent to brother Murphy in the pulpit. Finally, the “clock watcher” (who was sitting at the end of the pew next to the center aisle), leaned out into the aisle and took a long look at the clock on the back wall. Murphy exploded. To two ushers standing at the rear of the building Murphy said, “Come down here and get him! Come down here and get him, and take him out!!”
Key phrase in this article: “Reminder: you are not Gus Nichols.” jk
Personally, I think that length has never mattered so long as I get my point across, (or illustrate God’s point through His Word) appropriately.
Great article.
I like number five! Let’s face it – the preacher gets the grief for the service going over. No one ever says to the man giving announcements: “Hey, you went too long!” My attitude at my home church is: I have a message that needs to be communicated and you take as long as you want to on everything else – this message is too important to shorten just so you can crack an extra joke about the upcoming teen lock-in or hum the last verse of “Ring Out The Message” while shaking your neighbor’s hand as you balance a pew Bible on your head. If I am making a connection with my listeners, 40 minutes could seem like 10. If not, 10 minutes can seem like 14 years without even the slightest peck on the cheek from Rachel. Since this is a place for preachers to comment, allow me to vent: What gets to me as a preacher is the people who will sing for 40 minutes but are only willing to listen to the word preached for 10. “God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached (NOT sung or acted) to save those who believe.” And when we do read that the disciples/early church sang – it was a singular hymn. In the church I grew up attending, when we had a strong preacher in the pulpit that connected with the people – no one complained about time. He could have preached an hour and we would have begged for more. When he left, the next two preachers did not connect with the people and they clamored for a worship leader to sing for 45 minutes – so that they would not have to listen to the preacher very long. When the desert of a worship service becomes the meal – you will raise up a generation of spiritual diabetics that no amount of insulin from even the best mounted celebrity preacher could reach. (I can see James Hayes now: “You got spiritual di-a-bee-tus? You check your blood sugar and you check it often!”) Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not against the other acts of worship – I am just pro-sermon….spoken words – vibrating the ear drums- changing hearts – making followers of Jesus!
I believe one of the issues we are facing in the brotherhood (and society as a whole) is we have let the clock run control our spiritual growth. I understand the necessity of being considerate of people’s time and not wasteful of valuable time, but many times we are so in a hurry that we forget the purpose of why we are there. If we are truly in God’s presence….is there really a better place to be? I’m not a smart man, but I do know being in God’s presence is much better than being in the line at Golden Corral or the local Mexican restaurant.
It appears in reading the Scripture and also other historical documents that described early worship, that the early Christians spent whatever time was necessary to learn more about Christ and what it meant to be a Christian. To me, it doesn’t matter as much how long the minister preached, how many songs we sang, how long the prayer was, etc., but rather, was the time spent on those acts of worship meaningful. Were they done with thought? Did they touch those present in a way that it helped them to grow closer to God?
As worship leaders, we must always be thinking on those things. As worship participants, we need to keep our focus on those things that are important. If we do both of those, the complaints should be few and far between and the results should be incredible.
I have been in the habit for the last few months of preaching about 28-35 minutes on Sunday Morning and between 18-24 minutes on Sunday Night. I used to have the longer sermon on Sunday Night, but realized that many people are mentally fatigued by that time in the day.
I think it is important to coordinate with the song leader if you are going to deviate from your normal pattern. Particularly, if you have more than one service or you have Bible Classes that follow worship time.
I usually go right at 24 to 26. I don’t argue that the early church went longer, nor that brethren of the last century were more tolerant. But we have our audience… They had their’s. It is inconceivable that brethren in the first century would know what to do with my ‘smartphone, nor that my kids could get through 20 minutes of life without checking theirs. It is a different world. We must play by the rules.
Good thoughts brother. BTW, your average looks to be about 28 minutes – pretty good!
I wondered how long before someone would do the math and post that
.
I remember hearing Jack Evans speak one time in Albany, GA. It was special Sunday, like a homecoming of some sort…where we had lunch…then everyone came back in for a ‘short service’
The first thing he said when he got up…was someone saying something about a “Sermonette”…
He then said…as only he could…slowly..with perfect comedic timing…
“Sermonettes…
are for Christianettes…
who smoke cigaretttes”…
The whole place broke up laughing…and honestly…I don’t remember how long he preaced…:)
Great post. Remember “the mind cannot absorb any more than the seat can endure.” As one fellow said, “since this morning’s sermon had fifteen points tonight’s sermon will be ‘pointless.’” Blessings!
your MA-ma usted to tell your Dad an Uncle Dan , if you preach more than 30min you are repeating your self thought you might like her thoughts of wisdom Aunt Barbara
I did not know that….thanks Aunt Barbara. I love good maw-ma stories!
A ppor listener seldom hears a good sermon regardless of it’s length. – Acts 17:11
That’s supposed to be “A POOR Listener…”
Dale, thanks for the article! I would add only these remarks. When I preach, I feel that my responsibility is GREAT to present Jesus Christ and His word, not ME and mine. I have heard sermons which could have been great, but were somewhat spoiled by too much humor that did not relate to the lesson, or when the illustrations outweighed the Scripture. Obviously, we are often constrained by time, and we must realized that we, at least, are not really deprived when it comes to opportunities to hear the word preached. In a mission area where one may hear preaching only occasionally, to give a 25 minute lesson to people who have walked five miles or spent hours getting there would not be appropriagte.
Dale, I always liked the comment of G. C. Brewer, one of the greatest men I ever heard in the pulpit. He said: “The LENGTH of a sermon ought to correspond to its DEPTH. Some sermons are too long at 15 minuges; others are not long at 45 minutes.” I think he was right. Much depends on subject matter, preparation, and the occasion. Perhaps regular Sunday morning lessons should be 25-30 minutes, but I think it may be a mistake to “condition” an audience to expect every sermon to be under 30 minutes. There are times and occaions when audiences should expect more, and the preacher should not be intimidated when a full discourse is needed on a particular occasion. The length of a sermon, however, should never be expanded by mere repetition. Guy N. Woods could say more in 25 minutes than most could say in 45. But, when I was 16 years of age, I heard G. C. Brewer speak an hour and 20 minutes, one of the greatest lessons I ever heard. I am glad he did not have a 20-minute limit.
Conundrums about sermon lengths forever abound – like sermons need not be eternal to be immortal; dry as dust (although God created man from dust). The sermon on the mount covered three chapters in Matthew; Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill (Acts 17) as with Steven’s deathly provocative address in Acts 7 probably lasted more than twenty five minutes. Some conscientiously pray before preaching for God to help them to be concise, precise and above all, to say what He wants the hearers to hear – irrespective of clockwatchers.
My wife constantly reminds me of the Mothers with little children….I am reminded that it often takes more preparation to preach short than to preach long.
Long and short is relative to the audience, the subject, the setting. When we “go long” it is most often attributable to the announcer, the song leader, the presidor, and sometimes the preacher. But the preacher takes the rap…..that’s o.k……I can take it…..sometimes I’m even guilty. Meanwhile, I often have the sensation of not knowing how long I’ve preached…..this my brethren, can be a problem. I truly don’t watch the clock when preaching. I must therefore prepare to “go short” prior to getting up because once I start……it’s to late!
Jeff Smith, Southside in Shelbyville, TN
Thought you would be interested in a poll I did on my blog about a year ago. Our minister in Houston was very routinely speaking for 40-45 minutes, and got a lot of grumbling about it.
While not an exhaustive list of options, the poll gave only numeric figures not accounting for variety based on the depth of the topic. You can vote and view the results by going to http://ministerlane.wordpress.com/2010/03/09/how-long-should-the-sunday-morning-sermon-last/