Are your sermons long?

Sermon length often depends upon the style of preaching being used. Thematic preaching seems to be shortest where a general theme is used and a few verses plucked to prop up the theme. Generally it's not teaching much, but it is meant to encourage.
Expository preaching is based upon a text of scripture and the preacher culls the depth of that verse. Such teaching/preaching can last for longer. 35-45 minutes is average, but it can go longer.
Call and response preaching is generally the longest. This is partially cultural in nature. The preacher has a theme, but the audience responds back as the theme is expressed. The more the response, the more the preacher calls out, which leads to more response. In this type of sermon you can go for two or three hours. My wife and I visited a church like this down in Tampa. The message went on for at least a couple hours. (I'm not sure the exact length because we left after an hour, went out to lunch and passed by the church an hour later and the lot was full.
I suspect culture and sermon preference plays a large part in length. My church is generally around 30 minutes for the message.

TangledWeb said:

I read moments ago that a member had a previous pastor whose sermons were 45 minutes in length and I would say no thanks to that. What are your sermon lengths at your church and do you remember what the longest one you've ever had to sit through was?

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Yeah, I think that was me. He actually wasn't my pastor. I heard him once in person and once online. I think a sermon over 30 minutes is excessive since most people's attention spans are not that long. At the church I currently go to the pastor keeps it to about 25 minutes or so.

Lämmchen said:

Usually in Lutheran churches it's 20-25 minutes for a sermon. I don't know that I've had any longer than a half hour though?

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Yeah, 20 minutes is the norm I'd say but does size really matter hehe

I've only (sorta, kinda) preached one sermon in my life - and it was probably 10 minutes max (think I still have it).

At my Lutheran church, the pastor's sermons are probably in the 15-25 minute range (varies week to week). In my Catholic parish, I'd guess they typically were 10 minutes or so. I recall at the Baptist church that my homeschooling was associated with, the sermon was probably 30-40 minutes but then the worship service was pretty much just sermon and a bunch of hymns so the service was still just an hour (my Lutheran church typically runs 60-75 minutes).



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