The most frequent preaching length is 20 to 28 minutes. I've chosen to use his groupings, but will comment upon my own experiences with each locally. Last week, church researcher Thom Rainer published his observations on this topic in an article titled ' Three Major Trends in Sermon Length.' In his article, Rainer classified sermon length in three groupings. If a fellow cannot say all he has to say in that time, when will he say it?' An old preacher used to say to a young man who preached an hour, 'My dear friend, I do not care what else you preach about, but I wish you would always preach about forty minutes.' We ought seldom to go much beyond that - forty minutes, or say, three-quarters of an hour. However, noted 19th century British preacher Charles Spurgeon, in 'Lectures to my Students,' wrote, 'In order to maintain attention, AVOID BEING TOO LONG. Historically, major Christian preachers have varied their sermon lengths, but it's safe to say that yesterday's sermon was much longer than the majority of today's sermons. Often there are practical considerations driving these expectations child care, social engagements, or work commitments. However, I feel those who attend any church should understand what to expect in sermon lengths as well as in the length of the entire service.

As I note sermon lengths from time to time, commenters on my observations sometimes take me to task for even mentioning the topic.

In visiting area churches, I notice huge variations in sermon lengths. One of the key reasons people attend church is to receive pastoral words of biblical wisdom or instruction. Updated: SeptemPublished: February 7, 2015

Just to clarify sermon