How long are your services?

[qwerty guy]

How long are your services? I'm all for getting the message across, but when my pastor gives 10 real life stories, and the service runs so long my hinder hurts, as much as I want to be in church I realize I no longer listen because I'm more focused on how bad my back hurts from the silly wanna be cushioned seats. I also understand, I may get things right away, and others need it pounded into their head, but when you've been preaching over an hour on the same topic, all my mental resolve to listen is gone and I start thinking there is better ways to spend my time. Oh, if anyone wants to say how un-spiritual this is, please do so I can laugh given how I'm a front row, note taking, soul winning, preaching member that either has some ADD or is just in tune to the fact that 200 people around me just wanna leave after a given point and it's a waste of time to keep talking.

[matie-k]

Each time you speak of your church and church family, I'm more and more amazed that you stay there when there is so much you dislike about the place.

[qwerty guy]

hmmm, you know, it's my church that is the only thing that keeps me where I am, cuz I really dislike the taxes, politics, religions... of my state.

I should maybe clarify, that if I seem to complain about my church on this forum, it's because I only feel the freedom to say such things.. ON this forum.

I love my church, I really do. I pour in tithe, offerings, time, time above time and offerings above offerings into my church. I have deep relationships with some of the families, I have deep love investment into bus kids... I have a hand in the development of some teens that even when I feel in a valley, I pull myself up coming to the Lord in earnest that I can't be less than best when it comes to helping these kids.

I don't bring these issues up around the church. I don't like a critical spirit inside the church. The pastor says you must work for salvation? OK challenge him. But church service time? I wouldn't dare.

I take the liberty of a pseudo-anonymous forum to ask questions, not so much cuz I'm critical as I wanna know if I'm unusual. When I preach, I get to the point, I drive it home, and it's up to the people to listen or not. I don't pander to the lowest common denominator, which my pastor usually doesn't do, but lately it seems he just keeps hitting reset over and over on his message and it drives you to numbness.

I'll be honest.. I think he really really is worried and cares about us, and he sees something going on that needs to be addressed.. but what I can't grasp is if they don't listen to you in the first :45, why would you get through in the latter :45.

Someone once said "in biblical times, they would listen to preaching for 10 hours" well, they also would walk for 2 days and usually only once a month. I drive for 45 min and that's longer then almost anyone in my church, and I stay from sunday school until after the night service, working for the lord the entire time. But I see people who came for face time, and they don't care what you say in min 1, much less min 60. I get something from each service, but it usually sinks in the first time it's said, and the 10th time it's said I'm usually comatose.

Like I said, I might be wierd... and I expect a ton of "EVERY WORD IS GOLD" type responses of people who wanna feel spiritual. That's not what I'm saying what you're doing, I liked your question it let me clarify why I ask the questions I do here and clarify that I only have questions but I do love my church.

My question at the root is: do other people have this problem and is there anyone that HAD this problem and figured out how to keep their brains working after 30 min of the same topic?

[LindaR]

I wasn't sure if you meant the worship service or the combination of Sunday School and worship service. I just voted for the time of our worship service (1 hour to 1 hour and 15 min). Combined time for SS and worship time is a little over 2 hours.

[DaveW]

Now our "full Church time" includes All Ages Sunday School and then a combined service.

We officially start at 9:30am and finish around 11:45, but we have about 20 mins between SS and Main for coffe, tea etc, and the main last approx. 1 hour, with about 45 mins for the preaching - depending on how interesting the preaching is. :lol:

[kevinmiller]

We go to the early service so it has to let out in time for SS, so it's about an hour. The evening service is about an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half. I prefer shorter sermons, or sermons that are a reasonable length but with a lot less filler. I feel like so much time is taken up reinforcing the point 15 million different ways rather than giving the point and how we can apply it and moving on. Yes, I'm ADD, but I'm also a teacher and I prefer short and practical stuff rather than a long eloquent speech. :wink

[HappyChristian]

Our services typically last about an hour, an hour and 15. The preaching is usually 30-45 minutes. We have had a few speakers that have gone on for a while...and they are ribbed about is usually.

One church I was in, the preacher would give announcements that lasted almost half an hour (not that much going on, he was just very verbose!). And then the invitation would last so long, my dad used to say that the preacher would talk them into it and then during the invitation talk them back out of it. This preacher was actually an evangelist at heart, and when he was able to go into evangelism, his style remained the same, but he preaches and gets done.

[Anon]

I voted an hour fifteen, but that's including songs and etc.

[bzmomo7]

hmmm, you know, it's my church that is the only thing that keeps me where I am, cuz I really dislike the taxes, politics, religions... of my state.

I should maybe clearifly, that if I seem to complain about my church on this forum, it's because I only feel the freedom to say such things.. ON this forum.

I love my church, I really do. I pour in tithe, offerings, time, time above time and offerings above offerings into my church. I have deep relationships with some of the families, I have deep love investment into bus kids... I have a hand in the development of some teens that even when I feel in a valley, I pull myself up comming to the Lord in ernest that I can't be less then best when it comes to helping these kids.

I don't bring these issues up around the church. I don't like a critical spirit inside the church. The pastor says you must work for salvation? OK challenge him. But church service time? I wouldn't dare.

I take the liberty of a sudo-anominous forum to ask questions, not so much cuz I'm critical as I wanna know if I'm unusual. When I preach, I get to the point, I drive it home, and it's up to the people to listen or not. I don't pander to the lowest common denominator, which my pastor usually doesn't do, but lately it seems he just keeps hitting reset over and over on his message and it drives you numbness.

I'll be honest.. I think he really really is worried and cares about us, and he sees something going on that needs to be addressed.. but what I can't grasp is if they don't listen to you in the first :45, why would you get through in the latter :45.

Someone once said "in biblical times, they would listen to preaching for 10 hours" well, they also would walk for 2 days and usually only once a month. I drive for 45 min and that's longer then almost anyone in my church, and I stay from sunday school until after the night service, working for the lord the entire time. But I see people who came for face time, and they don't care what you say in min 1, much less min 60. I get something from each service, but it usually sinks in the first time it's said, and the 10th time it's said I'm usually comatose.

Like I said, I might be wierd... and I expect a ton of "EVERY WORD IS GOLD" type responces of people who wanna feel spiritual. That's not what I'm saying what you're doing, I liked your question it let me clearify why I ask the questions I do here and clearify that I only have questions but I do love my church.

My question at the root is: do other people have this problem and is there anyone that HAD this problem and figured out how to keep their brain working after 30 min of the same topic?

Our church runs about an hour for the main service. Our church in Utah was a good hour+, about 4 songs, a special and no "fluff"--he could cram a lot of info. in a sermon, especially the night one.....and he preached until he was done. :lol

Querty, I think you'd get along well with my husband, he feels much of what you stated above. He doesn't have ADD, he says that it has a lot to do with your profession and the way your mind works. He is a cancer researcher and has to sit through a lot of meetings and give highly technical presentations. He tells me that if a speaker (whether a preacher or not) is beating around the bush and not putting out the facts, his mind has a hard time focusing. He's told me that when your mind is used to working hard to analyze every word, that when it does not, when he is sitting still--then it is like it wants to switch off......kinda like what you said. I work hard to take detailed notes when I listen to a preacher, and actually write out the main verses if I have time because I am easily destracted by other people who are fidgitting or whatever--I'm also one of those people who likes to see the completion of something, so I can ususally hang in there in a long sermon. The only thing I absolutely can't stand is when the preacher's sermon points are not clear! ARG! Oh, and btw, our pews at this church are miserably "padded" (can I even call it that?) on the bottom part only......not that I am trying to complain either, but hey, it IS something you notice after you've been sitting there for 45 min.!! (Especially when one is pregnant, as I am)

[jchahl]

Our services usually last close to an hour and a half. We have about half hour of singing, announcements, offering, etc. then about a 50 minute sermon and about a 10 minute invitation.

[chev1958]

About 40 minutes for Sunday School, a 10-minute break, then an hour of worship service (a congregational hymn, opening prayer, annoucements, another congregational song, special singing, and a 45-min sermon, very short invitation). I have gone as long as 90 minutes of preaching, but that's very rare. Sunday and Wednesday nights are about an hour total.

[Guest Guest]

Our AM service usually lasts from 11:00 to 12:30-ish, so I picked 1:30-1:45 (sometimes the preaching goes longer).

I don't buy into that whole idea that if you have a shorter message, you're not giving the Holy Spirit enough time to work in peoples' hearts. I've heard preachers say that, and honestly, the Holy Spirit has convicted me of things in the first 15 minutes of a sermon sometimes. If the sermon goes too long and rambly, I might just forget the important stuff before I get out of church.

[Evan57]

I remember few years ago. When the preacher preached so long in the service, the visitors left during the service. I knew it is a bad timing.
I believe if preachers make good sermons and right to the subjects to make the audience fascinate that would make them stay in the services. It is really depend on the Holy Spirit thru prayer. The best is make a simple short sermons to make them easy to remember the sermons than the long sermons. The long sermons tend to forget what were the sermons about. Prayer is the key for the preachers to preach the word of God. :praying :pray

Evan57

[John81]

Our services typically last about an hour, an hour and 15. The preaching is usually 30-45 minutes.

[Madeline]

We have worship service which usually lasts about 30 minutes, then it's the preaching which is about 45 minutes.

Love,
Madeline