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
What? There are opportunities to say these things to your pastor? Really? Where I worship is disrespectful to say some of those listed. However, praise for receiving the Word spoken is always gladly received where I worship. However, I know some get away with cryptic comments. Yes, there is a time, I believe to assist your pastor through proper channels and settings if words are mispronounced, verb tense,esp if you know it goes live.
Anywho, it is surprising to learn that hours are spent preparing . . . . Generally where I worship, the Holy Spirit controls the service and message, sometimes, oftentimes. And, scripture references are nearly the same, oftentimes, for most of the messages. Why? Foundation? Familiarity? We didn’t get it?
.Just because one comes into the pulpit with notes or manuscript doesn’t mean he is not controlled by the Spirit. Any preacher worth his salt is controlled by the Holy Spirit while writing his sermon and taking the time to pray and study.
“I want to tell my friend about the outstanding sermon you just preached … what was it about again?”
So memorable . . .
I had someone say to me “I am mad at you. God would never do what you said he did. He is too loving to have his son killed. He just turned his head and let it happen. God is not an angry mean God”. By the way, I said nothing about God being angry or mean but that the weight of sin is so great an offense that the only way our sins would be paid for is for us to die or for Christ to die, which God planned.
Therein lies the offense of the gospel.
“That was a really great sermon – for a woman preacher.” Made me laugh not in the funny haha way but the oh my way.
Ouch!
The best I heard was after a sermon I preached where I was pastor at the time was: “Pastor, that was a great sermon; when you preach a trial sermon somewhere I would use that one.”
I was not sure to take that as a compliment or a way to say, “You might want to start looking.”
We are all sinners saved by grace dwelling among other sinners saved by grace and some sinners who have never come to know Jesus. You never know what is going to come from a heart affected by sin!
That’s a first for me. I wouldn’t know how to take it.
I’ve always found it ‘interesting’ of those who can’t spend 60-90 minutes in a Worship service but they’re able to sit for 2 hours through a movie they hated.
They also get a little upset when I ask them that.
You’re right. Rebuttals often backfire.
Thom,
I am a freelance writer and my current project is to visit every church in my community (over 80) and write about the experience; the articles are then published. I’m a Christian of over 50 years, and I’m also seasoned member of Toastmasters skilled in evaluating speakers.
In this post, as well as others, you said, “Pastors often take 10 to 20 hours to prepare a sermon.” In my experience I have yet to hear a Sunday morning sermon that reflects 20 hours of preparation.
However, I have attended many Christian conventions and conferences where the keynote speakers presented messages that were well organized, focused and polished, which in fact did reflect 20 hours of preparation.
Many speakers become comfortable in their environment and somewhat lackadaisical. I don’t believe that the majority of the listening audience intends to be critical, but everyone has a critiquing ear. Unfortunately tact is sometimes missing in our critiques.
Regards,
Gail Marvel
Gail, at least from my experience, very little of that 10-20 hours (actually seems a bit low to me) goes into the polish portion of a sermon. The few times that I have had the opportunity to preach a message have been an absolute blessing to me. Granted I have never had the opportunity to get into the rhythm of preaching weekly, or preaching through a series where some of the prep would overlap, but I would personally feel severely under prepared to give a message even with that minimum amount of time of 10 hours. The responsibility of clearly communicating God’s word and contextualizing it for God’s people is a weighty one. Much prayer and study might not be readily apparent in the presentation itself, but was crucial in bringing the message that God has intended.
Gail – As the wife of a former senior pastor, turned kids pastor, I know that my husband really did spend that amount of time in preparation, and I do know that a good Toastmaster critique would have helped him. Large conference speakers are not only exceptionally gifted, but they often have preached that same sermon many times before. I think that any pastor who had the opportunity to practice preaching a message as many times as the conference speakers often (not always) do, they would be more polished, too. As my piano teacher used to tell me as a kid, “Practice makes perfect.” The weekly grind of sermon prep is grueling, very grueling. Add to that an outside job for the bivocational pastor, plus a funeral that week, and I would say that a sermon delivered on Sunday with heart can still be used by the Holy Spirit to speak to someone with ears to hear.
PS -My husband’s Dad was a Toastmaster, and I agree with you that Toastmaster’s is a great way to polish your public speaking skills!
Thanks Mary Ellen. There is a big difference in a conference speaker and a local pastor. As Thom said we do spend 10-20 hours a week in crafting a sermon but that is not all we do. Being a pastor/preacher is not a 40 hour a week job as you well know.
Thanks, Gail
From what my pastor has told me, he spends a lot of that prep time in study. However, I agree, Gail. I am a Toastmaster as well, and while my pastor is an excellent speaker, there are many others who would benefit from TM. One in my club is a pastor, as a matter of fact. Good advice!
My first pastorate on the first Sunday, I had studied long and hard to be prepared for that first sermon. A lady walks up to me right before the service was to begin and said, “I do not know what you are preaching on but we have already heard everything we need to hear. You better be good today.” Red flags flew…
I’m glad she has the Bible down perfectly.
“Pastor, every sermon you preach is better than the NEXT one”. I sure hope they meant “the last one”, but I was afraid to ask!
Don’t ask. Ignorance is bliss!
I recently had, “That was four sermons in one…nevermind!”
(Preaching Ezekiel 36:16-38, taking 43 mins, when I’m usually around 35 mins.)
I have heard lots of sermons that would have made 4 nice ones. It wasn’t a lecture class where you ahve to cover the material. I am not sure if the preacher got a gold star for covering that much at one time but I did not think it was going to end.
There are many time conscious church members.
This was said to me yesterday by a young man who was called to ministry where I pastor, “Before I preach my first sermon in a couple of weeks I am going to talk to (another pastor), (another pastor), then (another pastor), and I guess, you too…”
He will learn the hard way.
“Pastor, I truly enjoyed the special song you sang this morning. It inspired me so much”
That’s different!