Preach'n And Teaching Time?

[Bruce S]

One of the noted difference's [this is a debate forum, not a doctrine forum] betwen the Catholic Church and most Protestant denominations, is the TIME devoted each week to preach'n.

I'm watching right now, on the I'net, my favorite preacher, Bob Coy, now what Bob is saying this morning isn't my topic.

The amount of TIME allotted to preaching is.

Bob will go about an hour and fifteen minutes. Rather longer than most other preachers, but this allows for considerable instruction, examples, and issues to be identified and explored.

One of the weaker points of some denominations, is in preaching. That includes ALL denominations.

Since most will not do much beyond attend service once a week, without instruction, [shall we call this modern oral traditon] how can people learn what they won't, because we know that few will do any reading independently?

What role does the Sermon or Homily have in your way of understanding the weekly service, and how much time is devoted to it in minutes?

Edited January 11, 2004 by Bruce S

[Ellenita]

More to the point is what's being said surely rather than the amount of time taken to say it!

You can sit through an hour and fifteen minutes and learn nothing and you can sit through 30 minutes and have it cut straight to your heart!

[Anna]

I think, too, Bruce S, that we have many different definitions of the same word.

The Catholic Holy Sacrifice of the Mass isn't a soapbox affair, in the sense that many television "preachers" 'preach.'

At the Mass, the Word of God is "proclaimed." You know. You've been there. The Word is read from the Old Testament to the people. We sing or say some psalms together. Then a Letter or Epistle from the New Testament is read to the faithful.

Then, all stand and listen to the priest proclaim one of the Gospel readings.

After this, we sit, and he teaches on the commonalities between all the readings, and on the main theme of the Gospel.

In most instances, this "homily" (sometimes referred to as a sermon) is meant to be instructional, more than emotionally charged. It isn't geared to 'fire-up' the peeps for a few minutes or hours, but to help increase their understanding, to avoid being eternally 'fired up.'

Then (as you recall) the Holy Sacrifice is offered. We place our hearts upon the altar, together with the bread and wine, which the priest consecrates.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine become Christ's Body and Blood. In accordance with His command and with the traditions of the Apostles, we consume the Sacred Species, thereby uniting ourselves with Christ Jesus in a most intimate way, and uniting ourselves to each other with a profound spiritual bond...re-membering the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church...bringing all its members together again, so to speak.

So, while good preaching is all well and good, there is more--much, much more--to be considered than just preaching.

Of course, this is not so for a televangelist. He has to make his sales pitch, and it better be good, if he's going to be able to pay for his air time next week!

[jasJis]

Funny. From my experience, the Catholic Worship service is the most Scriptural with the least "personal additions" of opinion in the form of Homily. Once I dug into it, I learn more from the prayers of the Mass after 1.000's of Masses, almost every Mass. I think I need the remedial help. ;)

[dUSt]

I think the mass is much more "personal" than Protestant services, helping us grow closer in our personal relationship with Christ--as opposed to our relationship with the preacher or community.

[BLAZEr]

The mass "preaches" from the Opening Prayer to the Closing Prayer . . . if you don't listen to what the Mass is saying, its not the mass's fault.

However, I too agree that it wouldn't hurt Catholic Priests to spend a little longer in the Homily teaching and preaching. Gregory Nanzianen, a Bishop of the Catholic Church, used to preach for 3 hours during his homilies. My pastor in South Bend preaches for 25-35 minutes on a regular basis. There is certainly something to be gained from more preaching.

Still, I think 90% of preachers preach too long . . . For instance, down here near Houston there is a preacher named Joel Osteen and he talks and talks and talks like a motivational speaker. Everyonce in a while I take notes and evaluate his preaching. I have noticed one thing . . . It's light on the Jesus, light on the teaching, heavy on the "You will be successful and happy and everything's gonna be great" . . . sorry, but that's not good preaching . . . that's a 2 hour waste of time.

[Circle_Master]

The Catholic Holy Sacrifice of the Mass isn't a soapbox affair, in the sense that many television "preachers" 'preach.'

...

At the Mass, the Word of God is "proclaimed." You know. You've been there. The Word is read from the Old Testament to the people. We sing or say some psalms together. Then a Letter or Epistle from the New Testament is read to the faithful.

...

In most instances, this "homily" (sometimes referred to as a sermon) is meant to be instructional, more than emotionally charged. It isn't geared to 'fire-up' the peeps for a few minutes or hours, but to help increase their understanding, to avoid being eternally 'fired up.'

...

Of course, this is not so for a televangelist. He has to make his sales pitch, and it better be good, if he's going to be able to pay for his air time next week!

I just want to make clear you understand that most 'televangelist' pastors of are a different type than the majority of preachers - or those we would consider 'good' pastors. A good pastor argues strongly from Scripture explaining how it applied to the original audience, and explaining what we can get from it today. It is very instructional, and educational. Preaching is not what many televangelists do, which is a big scheme to motivate people and tweak their emotions - it is a call to the Word of God and letting it speak for itself through the centuries.

[Circle_Master]

I must say that my favorite sermons ever are all around an hour, or an hour and a half long. There are some decent ones that are like a half hour, but they don't pull in the entire thought of the paragraph and surrounding context. The church I am attending right now has it's sermons around 25 minutes long. He does almost a chapter a week - large chunks, and is going through Acts right now. I feel he skips over a lot usually, but he does pull out much of the culture, and much of the connections and you drive home and connections are still forming in your head and teaching you.

[Paladin D]

Still, I think 90% of preachers preach too long . . . For instance, down here near Houston there is a preacher named Joel Osteen and he talks and talks and talks like a motivational speaker. Everyonce in a while I take notes and evaluate his preaching. I have noticed one thing . . . It's light on the Jesus, light on the teaching, heavy on the "You will be successful and happy and everything's gonna be great" . . . sorry, but that's not good preaching . . . that's a 2 hour waste of time.

That guy is on TBN.

Though there is nothing wrong with long sermons, it depends what is being said. For example, when I switch on TBN time to time... everyone gets excited over some of the smallest things, and talk hours about it. Maybe I've passed that and climbing higher ground? Who knows.