Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
About
Christology
Israel/Palestine
Publications
KermitZarley.com
Archives
Categories
- Angels
- Blog Description
- Book Reviews
- Christian Living
  - Unconditional Love?
- Christianity
- Christology
  - Deity of Christ?
  - Holy Spirit
  - Incarnation?
  - My Change
  - Trinity?
- Church History
- Current Events
- War on Terrorism
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- Eschatology
- Ezekiel 38-39
- Last Empire
- Primitive Weapons
- Film Reviews
- God
- Golf
  - Billy Graham
  - Karsten Solheim
  - Lee Trevino
  - Major Championship Winners
  - Masters
  - Purpose
  - Ryder Cup
- Gospel Harmonization
- Interview
- Islam
- Jesus
- Literary Announcements
- Monotheism
- My Books
  - The Restitution of Jesus Christ
- Old Testament
- Politics
- Society of Biblical Literature
- The Bible
- Trinitarianism
- Uncategorized
FREE NEWSLETTER

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
Does Your Pastor Preach Too Long?

Does Your Pastor Preach Too Long?

Last updated on: October 6, 2025 at 8:00 am by Kermit Zarley

0 Comments

Does Your Pastor Preach Too Long? 2025-10-05T22:26:36-07:00 Kermit Zarley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sunday morning church services are traditionally conducted in buildings constructed mostly for that purpose. Thus, the congregation is seated in church pews facing a stage in which a choir and a pastor perform for the onlooking members. One time that arrangement came to my attention as questionable, and you’d never guess by who.

I tell in my new book, Christ on the PGA Tour (1965-1982), about famous evangelist Billy Graham speaking to our PGA Tour Bible Study fellowship three times and once at a big banquet at a Marriott Hotel in Atlanta in which perhaps most of the PGA Tour players attended, all of them invited by Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus.

Asking Billy Graham about Going to Church

I knew the pastor of the church where Billy Graham and his family attended regularly at home. Calvin Thielman was the pastor of the Montreat Presbyterian Church in North Carolina. Our Tour Bible Study fellowship used to conduct an outdoor, early morning church service on Easter at the Heritage Classic on Hilton Head Island, North Carolina, and Calvin delivered that Easter message twice.

So, I state in my book (p. 113), “Because I knew Calvin, at one of the Tour Bible Study meetings in which Billy Graham spoke to us, I afterwards asked him, ‘Billy, what is it like for a minister of your stature to attend your home church?’ We were standing amidst the circle of chairs in which we had been sitting. He pointed to the chairs and answered, ‘I would prefer that we gather like this, sharing the Lord together.’ It seemed he meant believers who gathered like we did—in a less formal atmosphere and freely sharing our spiritual lives together—was vitally important for living a Christian life.”

Church Sermons Long and Short

Sunday morning church services have traditionally been conducted with their central focus on a pastor or minister delivering a sermon. Church goers have often discussed the length of the pastor’s message. My experience as an evangelical in the Bible church movement has been that this feedback was that the sermon was too long rather than too short.

The Christian Post reports today that a 2019 Pew Research Survey revealed the following statistics (I’m rounding off these numbers for easier memory): Catholic Church 15 minutes; Protestant Church 25 minutes; Evangelical churches 40 minutes; Black Protestant churches 55 minutes. However, the latter figure is somewhat deceptive since its sermons have the same number of words as that of Evangelical churches, which reflects slower speaking, more pause between sentences, etc.

Trump’s UN Speech Was 57 Minutes Long

Of course, what I’m saying here about a preacher’s sermons is generally true of any public speech or private conversation. Take President Donald Trump. He spoke combatively two weeks ago to the United Nations General Assembly, scolding nations for believing in global warming and calling their efforts to reduce it “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” He bragged to this august body of his success as the U.S. president even though he has thrown the world somewhat into chaos with his threatening tariffs upon nearly all the world’s nations.

In my opinion, Trump spoke like a fool. The Bible’s wisdom literature repeatedly singles out the “fool” and heaps scorn upon him. One way it does so is by the fool’s lengthy speeches. He spoke an ill-received message that lasted 57 minutes. The UN has a rule that speakers ought not go beyond 15 minutes, though it is often ignored.

Fewer Words Reveal Knowledge & Wisdom

This subject also applies to book authors like me. Thus, when I write a book, I’m always trying to “tighten it up” which means reducing the number of words that prove to be unnecessary. It’s called “editing” in the book trade. The following texts are from the Bible’s wisdom literature about this subject, and some of them are rather provocative:

“When words are many, transgression is not lacking” (Proverbs 10.19 NRSV).

“One who spares words is knowledgeable” (Proverbs 17.27)

“Let your words be few…. The more the words, the more vanity” (Ecclesiastes 5.3; 6.11).

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion” (Proverbs 18.2).

“The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools” (Ecclesiastes 9.17).

“Fools talk on and on” (Ecclesiastes 10.14).

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25.11).

Previous Post

October 3, 2025

Misbehavior of Ryder Cup Fans in New York Raises Questions

Next Post

October 8, 2025 Pope Leo Follows Pope Francis in Fighting Global Warming

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Glen, you seem to be advocating a preterist viewpoint, with which I disagree." I'm a ..."

Kermit Zarley

Family Estrangement Versus Honoring Father and ..."

"THESIS is a SCRIPTURE QUOTE.“Remember the predictions foretold by the holy prophets and by the ..."

glen smith

Family Estrangement Versus Honoring Father and ..."

"How are they going to answer it. They don't have unlimited financial resources. They're trying ..."

Kermit Zarley

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Getting Much Worse

"...but isn't that an important question to answer?"

Harold Porter

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Getting Much Worse

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Besides Samuel, Elkanah and Hannah had this many children.

Select your answer to see how you score.

5 2 0 8

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »