I’ve actually assembled more than ten things church members have told pastors immediately after they preached. But these are ten responses where pastors have had the most visceral reactions.
- “I am going to be late for lunch because you preached so long.”
- “You must not have had much time to prepare that sermon.”
- “My former pastor preached a much better sermon from that text.”
- “I wish {fill in the blank} would have heard that sermon.”
- “You act like you weren’t feeling well while you preached.”
- “I’m sorry I fell asleep while you were preaching. Your voice just puts me to sleep.”
- “Your subject/verb agreement was incorrect three times in your sermon.”
- “I wish you wouldn’t preach from the Old Testament.”
- “Let me tell you what you missed in your sermon.”
- “Are we ever going to be done with this sermon series?”
Pastors often take 10 to 20 hours to prepare a sermon. They pray for God to speak through them. They preach with conviction and fervency. And then they hear one of these sentences.
These ten responses are close approximations of what pastors have actually told me. I am sure there are many more. Let us hear what they are.
Posted on March 2, 2015
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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231 Comments
Great and Lovely
Thanks so much
Things I have heard from our People, for which I could pinch their heads off (I’m the Pastor’s wife);
Why do we have to learn about cults?
Why do we have to learn about JEWS (bad inflection)?
Why do we have to learn about the Old testament?
What’s your opinion about a full time pastor who doesn’t preach, I mean, preach less then 10 times a year? His church lay people have preached each Sunday. The pastor was busy in travelling visiting missionaries and attending conferences.
Great sermon, you preach just like a man!
@#$%^&*())!!!!!!
I repented of my behavior after I read Paul Levy’s article: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2011/04/after-the-service-rituals.php
I’ve endeavored to strictly limit any comment to my pastor after the surface to nothing which could have a negative interpretation. I wait until Monday or later to share the “touchy” remark with him.
Guess what! I usually forget what I was going to say. A closed mouth gathers no feet!
“after the service” , not “after the surface”!