How Long Should I Preach? New Research on The Average Sermon Length Of Growing Churches
How long should I preach?
The answer may be less than you think, and longer than some would like.
I hear this question a lot for a good reason: There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation about how long pastors should preach.
On one side, people argue that a sermon should be at least an hour, otherwise your preaching is shallow. After all, it takes time to dig into the rich depth of God’s Word.
On the other side, people argue that the attention span of our culture is shrinking. Your sermon should be more like a TED Talk, staying under 20 minutes so you don’t lose people.
Who’s right?
The Bible doesn’t have a lot to say about how long you should preach.
The most we read about sermon length is that Jesus sometimes taught and healed people all day (Luke 9:11-12) and that Paul once taught so long that a boy literally died (Acts 20:9).
So we might use that as justification for long-winded preaching, but unless we are confident that God will use us to raise our audience back from the dead, as Paul did with the boy, that may not be the best model for all of us to follow.
I hope we can all agree on one thing: God is brilliant. He didn’t give direct commands on sermon length for a reason.
Most likely, God didn’t give us a set rule because he knew that every church in every culture will need the freedom to do what works best. For some, that means long sermons; others, short.
This got me thinking, “What’s working best in American culture right now?”
I had a few guesses, but I wanted more than just a feeling. I needed data, but I couldn’t find much.
So I put on my nerd glasses, opened a spreadsheet, and tracked the sermon lengths of the 50 fastest-growing churches in America over the four Sundays in October 2019 (based on the Outreach’s annual list).
Fortunately, all of these churches either had a podcast or a website that allowed me to find their sermon content—though some took some digging to find.
About The Outreach 100 List
I know that the Outreach 100 list can be controversial.
It’s not perfectly accurate because not all churches contribute their numbers to the study. It can also be abused for unhealthy comparisons.
In fact, I’ve served on staff at a church that would have been at the top of the lists but chose not to submit their numbers because they didn’t want the temptation of pride that comes from being labeled one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in America.
I chose to use the growing churches list for three reasons:
- It’s the best data I could find on growing churches across America.
- I didn’t just want to study the large churches that grew large years ago and have since become stagnant. What’s working today?
- In order to grow, these churches are not preaching either so long or so short that people are leaving.
Therefore, I hope we can agree that this list at least represents a good cross-section of churches in America that are reaching people with their services.
There’s a lot more that goes into growing a church than the length of a sermon, but sermon length, at the very least, isn’t hindering their growth.
The Average Sermon Length of Fastest-Growing Churches
The total average sermon length of the 50 fastest-growing churches in America was 40.365 minutes.
If you want to get nerdy with me, here’s a copy of my spreadsheet.
The lowest average sermon length was 30 minutes from New Life Church in Arkansas.
The highest average sermon length was 52.25 minutes from Christian Life Center in Pennsylvania.
The shortest individual sermon was 24 minutes, also from New Life Church.
The longest individual sermon was 59 minutes from Journey Church in Florida.
What Does This Mean For You?
I wasn’t surprised overall by the results. 40 minutes seems to be the average sermon length that we would expect in most churches today.
However, I was surprised that none of these growing churches averaged under 30 minutes. Based on everything we read about declining attention spans, you might think that growing churches would be watering down the preaching with shorter sermons. But this is not the case.
I can’t speak for the content of the message of every one of these sermons, but the data proves that, at the very least, they aren’t cutting time from the preacher.
Another surprise to me was that no church preached for an average of an hour or longer.
There was a growing trend a few years ago of pastors preaching longer sermons, so I thought we might see some longer sermons on the list. But the data appears to support that a pastor who preaches for an hour might be pushing the limits of what the average person will endure.
So what does this all mean for you?
Strictly based on what is working in America today, you should preach for around 40 minutes on average.
However, you can preach for 30 minutes or 50 minutes and still be effective in reaching people.
If your average sermon is an hour or longer, consider whether the length of your preaching might be hindering your church’s effectiveness.
Likewise, if your average sermon is twenty minutes or less, could it be possible that you aren’t preaching enough to be as effective as you could be?
All churches and cultures are different. So don’t base your entire philosophy of ministry around this study. But I hope it at least challenges our thinking and leads us all into deeper prayer and reflection on God’s desire for each of our unique ministries.
tks for the research. I am told by leadership to take whatever time length.
You’re welcome, John. It’s great to have the support of leadership. You should preach a two-hour sermon next time just to see if they really mean it. (just kidding) 🙂
It’s unfortunate that the attention span in church is so limited most inspirational speakers do two hours of speaking and there audience love it. Just a thought…..
Very good article. I like that you articulated a range of time that is optimal. Whether the sermon is a little longer or shorter from time to time is understandable, and the work of the Holy Spirit can powerfully over ride our norms. However, there is wisdom in learning what works best, and your article provides that wisdom. Thanks, Lonnie Arnold
Thank you, Lonnie. Well said. I’m glad you found this helpful.
Our church seems to like 20 minute sermons with the average service length of 60 minutes.
That’s good to hear that your church likes it. I honestly thought I would’ve seen more 20ish minute sermons in my research. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a 20-minute message. But I do think it’s incredibly hard to do 20 minutes well. It’s easier to preach for an hour than to condense an hour’s worth of content into 20 minutes.
Very informative article! Love the use of data in decision-making, even in the area of preaching, as long as we ensure the Holy Spirit is ultimately in charge.
Saundra
Amen, Saundra. A study like this shouldn’t ever replace the leading of the Holy Spirit in any ministry.
Great data there to consider! Truly appreciate the tone and info from your work. Thanks for nerding out for us. Keep it up!
Thanks, Ryan. I’ll happily nerd out any chance I can get. Haha.
Good stuff every Pastor needs to hear. However, there are other factors involved in why churches are growing. Worship Style, Music, Programs, etc. and Content of the Message. It would be interesting to see a study on Content. I have heard many of the seeker churches are growing because the Content of the Message being preached is more about God’s Grace – Love and making the audience feel good. That too is important. (Disclaimer: I am not judging, just sharing hearsay, which is always dangerous).
Sin is real, Hell is real, Heaven is real, confession is vital, rebellion is evident in our culture, and Salvation is available to all who seek and ask. These are topics that may not be popular and left out so as not to lose parishioners.
Again, thank you for this valuable report which certainly serves as a guide to what works. Blessings
Joe Ramos
What was the average length if the service as a whole?
That is a great question. You may have just sparked an idea for my next batch of research. Thanks!
It would be interesting to know the actual service length as well as the sermon length. How long is the singing/worship or the altar/closing?
Great question. I may just have to research this too. It’ll take a lot more time and digging, though. Most churches only post the sermon online. But I’m always up for a challenge. Thanks!
The focus is on the preacher. How long does he want to preach? How can a 60 minute message be boiled down to 20 minutes? Where is the research on the hearers? After 45 minute lecture, by the time the person’s hand grabs their car door handle, do they really remember points 3, 4, 5 of the 10 point sermon? Maybe shorter and focused on one main point that is looked at with various learning styles instead of someone just talking might increase retention and application stronger. It’s not just the sending, more important is the receiving.
Furthermore the “top 20 gorwing churches” is standard 21st c. American Christianity. Numbers is king. What else is in the service? Many churches have a hymn “sandwich” – sing a few songs, make some announcements, a long sermon (the mian point), sing a song and go. Worship is so much more. What percentae of the total time is the sermon?
Just reflecting on that which is rarely addressed.
some churches used 15minute to sermon used 2hours to prophesies
What I would want to know is what the average attender would like for sermon length. Seems to me that in our day and age, 20 minutes is about the right amount for a message considering the success of TED talks and the very short attention span of most people these days.
Thanks for all you do Brandon.
Human intellect is fighting God’s word in this days
there are just fighting in God’s word I don’t know what cuz it but I pray any spirit that cuz u to fight in God’s word in the name of Jesus I command that spirit to die nw in Jesus name Amen
My personal opinion is that once the bottom starts hurting…you are not going to get much out of the message anyway. My wife and I are in our 60s. We can listen to very long messages at home, but sitting in a pew…we have had enough in 30 minutes. An hr long Church service is long enough for us.
Its not the length of time or the attention span which is important. Rather, it is the capacity to provide facts and augments which are retained. Your sermon is for the particular individules in front of you for that day. One day, month and year later, have they remained and used? I have lectured professionally as a scientist and pastorally as a preacher. In a scientific lecture or talk, I will use all sorts of techniques to gain attention and help retention. I have one particular scientific public talk in which my main aim is to entertain. In lectures to students, my aim was to help them understand some very difficult scientific concepts, and see their eyes light up as they begin to understand why phytoplankton grow and climate change is real. In a sermon, my aim was to use Scripture, experience, research and love to support and accompany each of my listeners on their individual journeys of faith and to “let God be God” in the process.
our church used 15minute to sermon
I was having a discussion with my pastor these morning. ask him about the prophets of in those days that God love them and god used them and do signs and wonders he say yes. but my question is why did God silent for there same those prophets that he love and why did God forsaking them to
the sermon on the mount……Jesus’s longest sermon Matt chapters 5-7 can be read in 10 minutes….not 40
Thank you for this informational study…
Pastor Jerry Casselman
A perfect article with spreadsheets that we need to pay attention for but not be ignorance to it.