How Long Should a Pastor Preach?
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We have all been in services where we wondered when is this message ever going to end? If you haven’t then I can take you to a few churches where you will feel that way.
As a person who has been teaching, preaching, and speaking publicly for more than thirty years, if you care about your audience then you are always wondering about the length of your messages. Some churches are known for long services and long sermons, while other churches are in and out in a little over an hour. In these churches, the messages are never more than thirty minutes.
Regardless of which type of church you go to, I want you to think about this for a moment – how long should a pastor preach? To be clear there really is no Biblical answer to this question, so my thoughts could be perceived as subjective. But based on the nature of the topic I think that is okay.
As we examine this question right off the bat, let me share with you what someone I used to work for said about public speaking. Always finish talking five minutes before the audience stops listening. I am going to try to translate this thought to the pulpit and preaching by sharing a few ideas and hopefully you will find some truth and humor along the way.
3 Reasons Pastors Preach Long Sermons
Let me begin by trying to explain why pastor’s preach long sermons anyway.
1. They Cram Too Much into One Message
I remember I went to hear a pastor speak who I enjoy listening to, and he spent forty-five minutes doing the introduction and laying the background to his message. He then proceeded to preach another forty minutes to make his points. That was way too long and too much information for one message. By the time he got to the end I could barely remember what he said at the beginning.
Here is a reality check: People don’t have the capacity to process all that information for that long a period, especially when all they are doing is sitting and listening. Invariably, the mind and the brain are going to wander, which means if you are a pastor or speaker your audience may not receive all those wonderful points you spent so much time preparing.
2. They Make the Same Point Seven Different Ways
I heard a pastor preach a sermon series and every week during the series he took the same points and just reworded them. In fact, in the same message, he kept making the same point over and over again.
I remember sitting in the audience with my wife saying this message could have ended twenty minutes ago. (Don’t act like you have never said that). Sometimes if a pastor is not well prepared, they will use filler to stretch the message. In some churches, there are phrases that any pastor or speaker can use to get a response from the audience. While this may add to the length of the message, they often don’t add to the substance.
3. They Think They Have To
Some pastors judge the quality and effectiveness of their message by the length. Unfortunately, some congregants do as well. These two things have nothing to do with each other. If all you have is a twenty-minute message, then make it twenty minutes. You don’t have to feel the need to stretch the time. You might be surprised, but many of your members will be okay if the message is short and church finishes a little early – but you didn’t hear that from me.
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Things Pastors Say That Will Automatically Make Their Sermons Feel Longer
Sometimes pastors sabotage themselves and make what might be a normal length sermon feel longer. One of the reasons is the pastor or speaker sets it up the wrong way. Here are some statements pastors and speakers make that will make the sermon feel longer than it really is.
“I won’t be before you long.”
“I just need a few minutes of your time.”
“I just want to share a couple of thoughts and I will let you go.”
You might be wondering why these lines, which seem so innocent, can work against pastors. These lines all set expectations and they are subjective expectations. If I were to ask you and maybe ten other people what is a few minutes, or how long is not long, I am going to get a wide variety of answers.
These are subjective time qualifiers, and when you use statements like these, people create a time frame in their mind of how long this should be. If they believe a few minutes is five and you take ten, then you have preached too long. My point is, if you are a pastor or speaker in church, don’t ever say this at the beginning of your message. If you do, you have setup the audience to watch the clock, and chances are you are going to make them feel you are preaching too long.
How Long Should a Pastor Preach?
Now let’s get to the answer you have been waiting for.
A pastor should preach as long as it takes to make the point, without losing your audience in the process.
Your effectiveness in preaching is not judged by the time on the clock but by the quality of the content. Let me add one more point. A good pastor should not just be beholden to their notes, but they must also be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You must allow room for God to control what happens in the service. You may have five points but if after your third point you sense the Holy Spirit moving you to have an altar call or pray at that moment, follow his leading because you don’t know what he wants to do.
I learned this lesson the hard way, not when I was preaching, but when I was leading a spring production in college. We would do this gospel extravaganza every spring, and this year I was the MC. We had a program lined up and a schedule for the event. As the evening progressed, I sensed in my heart that God wanted us to stop and have a moment of corporate worship. However, at that point I was conflicted because we had a lot of events left on the program. In that instance I did not listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the rest of that event fell flat on its face because I ignored the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes pastors do the same thing because they have all these notes, and they feel obligated to get through them, but you don’t have to. Part of your job is to deliver the message and connect people with God. When the message is delivered, all that is left is connection. If that happens after 15 minutes or 30 minutes that is okay if you are being led by the Holy Spirit. Remember you only need to preach as long as it takes to make the point without losing your audience.
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Don’t Forget about the Children’s Workers
This section pastors and speakers need to pay close attention to. When you preach really long sermons, don’t forget there are children’s workers who are stuck in a room with other people’s kids, and possibly your own. While people in the sanctuary may be able to endure the long sermon, people in the children’s ministry are pulling their hair out. Most of the time they have not planned for the extended service, and there are only so many things you can do to keep kids engaged for that long a period, so please be mindful of that. (And all the children’s ministry workers said a loud amen.)
What Is the Goal of Preaching Anyway?
The goal of preaching comes right out of 2 Timothy.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Whenever someone is preaching, these things should be happening: teaching, rebuking, correcting, training, and equipping. To this list I am going to add one more, connecting. I believe a real good sermon leads people to want to connect with God in a deeper way or deeper level.
While we tend to praise the person delivering the message, I believe the preacher’s job is not done unless he has given the people an opportunity to connect with God concerning the message before they leave the building. Without that the message is incomplete.
Final Thought
While there is no right or wrong answer to how long a pastor should preach, if you will prepare with the help of the Holy Spirit and preach being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, then whether you speak five minutes or fifty minutes you will accomplish what God wants from your sermon. While length may seem to be important, content and the move of the Holy Spirit are more important. If you happen to be preaching or speaking anytime soon, I hope this helps a little bit. And now I will follow my own advice and stop writing before you stop reading.
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