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How long is the sermon?
Study ranks Christian churches

Original Article

Posted By: Ketchuplover, 12/17/2019 1:51:01 AM

How long should a sermon be? The major branches of Christianity in the U.S. have sharply different traditions, with sermons at historically black Protestant churches lasting — on average - nearly four times as long as Roman Catholic sermons. (Snip) According to Pew, the median length of the sermons was 37 minutes. Catholic sermons were the shortest, at a median of just 14 minutes, compared with 25 minutes for sermons in mainline Protestant congregations and 39 minutes in evangelical Protestant congregations. Historically black Protestant churches had by far the longest sermons, at a median of 54 minutes.

Comments:

Preaching from a manuscript is often frowned upon ("He's just reading it!"), as opposed to those who stand up and preach with few, if any notes. But the advantage of a manuscript is that the sermon has a definite beginning and a definite end. Very few preachers are good at just preaching off the cuff...they tend to meander and repeat themselves and never have a decisive ending. I've known preachers who have worked for hours and hours in preparation. I knew one that would get up Sunday morning and decide what he was going to say. And then there was the preacher I knew who would spend a half hour in his office, highlighting various phrases from a pre-printed sermon magazine and take that into the pulpit on Sunday morning. The length of the sermon depends on the quality of the sermon and the ability of it to reach the hearers on their level. I feel sorry for those who must endure long theological dissertations while sitting in the pew, and I feel sorry for those hard-working pastors who have wrestled for the right wording in their preparation, only to be drowned out by a crying baby or a coughing fit while delivering it.

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Reply 1 - Posted by: chumley 12/17/2019 5:00:59 AM (No. 264480)
This is kind of surprising. When Mom or Grandma would drag us off to church the sermons were rarely less than an hour and as often as not an hour and a half. People were bored, fidgety, had to go to the bathroom and had mangled their little bulletins from reading them a thousand times. They shot for the door like rockets when it was over. I haven't been to church regularly in 50 years. Nice to know that part changed.
2 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: berthabutt 12/17/2019 5:42:55 AM (No. 264501)
Going to Mass (for me as catholic) is going to see, hear and take in Jesus. Riding the clock doesn't give it the reverence due His coming into our midst. A silly earthly measurement of God's time with us shouldn't impact Our participation.
13 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: MNluxiegal 12/17/2019 5:44:32 AM (No. 264503)
Catholic sermons are shorter because the Holy Mass consists of the introductory prayers, reading of the the liturgy [a psalm, epistle and Gospel]. the sermon, plus the highlight being the consecration of the bread [hosts] and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and reception of Holy Communion. If the priest talked for 40-60 minutes, the Mass would last nearly 2 hours.
14 people like this.

Reply 4 - Posted by: franq 12/17/2019 6:01:20 AM (No. 264509)
Most are too long.
4 people like this.

Reply 5 - Posted by: qr4j 12/17/2019 7:41:07 AM (No. 264547)
Fifteen minutes is enough. If Jesus Christ shows up, he can preach as long as he likes. Everyone else? Shut yer yap at 15. You aren’t the big JC! You aren’t God incarnate!
3 people like this.

Reply 6 - Posted by: GO3 12/17/2019 8:52:55 AM (No. 264621)
I want the Pew Research Center to figure out how long these bust-an-eardrum musical productions last before we actually get to the preaching. By my last count anywhere from 30-40 minutes.
2 people like this.

Reply 7 - Posted by: zephyrgirl 12/17/2019 9:01:49 AM (No. 264635)
If you can't make your point in 15-20 minutes, you shouldn't be preaching.
4 people like this.

Reply 8 - Posted by: udanja99 12/17/2019 9:03:10 AM (No. 264638)
Catholics don’t have sermons. We have homilies.
5 people like this.

Reply 9 - Posted by: preciosodrogas 12/17/2019 9:09:53 AM (No. 264649)
One of the very best church experience I had was at a church that went on for hours. There was singing, hand holding, more singing, a passionate sermon that addressed, more singing and food, tons of food A great way to spend a Sunday.
3 people like this.

Reply 10 - Posted by: Ebenezer 12/17/2019 9:17:46 AM (No. 264668)
at the dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg in 1863, there were two main speakers. The first speaker, a famous orator of the time named Edward Everett, spoke for two hours. The other speaker, Abraham Lincoln, spoke for two minutes. Whose speech do we remember today?
9 people like this.

Reply 11 - Posted by: Moritz55 12/17/2019 11:46:01 AM (No. 264831)
Before I retired, I served a church that had a 30-minute TV broadcast. No bells and whistles. There were prayers, Scripture readings, a hymn or choir anthem, and a sermon. I was told when I arrived that if I didn’t keep the sermon down to 18 minutes, the editor would do it for me. It can be done! Yes, it took discipline and much more preparation, but that was actually a blessing in disguise. And no, I didn’t read my sermons, but I did write them out and practice beforehand.
4 people like this.

Reply 12 - Posted by: LaVallette 12/18/2019 5:17:02 AM (No. 265497)
Catholicism is primarily a sacramental religion and it must accordingly give precedence to it. Thus each and every Mass has THREE essential parts: The liturgy of the Word, (involving two, three on Sundays, readings from the Bible and including one from the Gospels) followed by the homily, then comes the Liturgy of the Consecration, and the third part is Holy Communion.
2 people like this.

Reply 13 - Posted by: StormCnter 12/18/2019 6:12:40 AM (No. 265514)
Most who grew up in small communities remember that the Baptists and Methodists tried to keep the service short enough to beat the other congregation to the local eateries.
2 people like this.

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