Shorter Attention Spans. Longer Sermons.

Back in the heyday of U.S. church involvement (the mid 1950s) a typical sermon in an evangelical church ran about 20 minutes.

Today, the average sermon clocks in at almost 40 minutes.

Ironically, this doubling of sermon length occurred even as attention spans were shrinking. Television and the Internet trained our brains to seek out concise, visually interesting content that captures and holds our attention.

So this is where we find ourselves today: church attendance is roughly half of what it was in the ‘50s. And online sermons are largely ignored.

To summarize: longer sermons + shorter attention spans = shrinking churches.

How did we get here?

Why sermons got lo-o-o-o-nger

Sermons length exploded during the megachurch era. Starting in the 1980s, gifted communicators built big churches, preaching longer and longer messages. Their success created an expectation among pastors: if you want to grow a successful church you must occupy the pulpit for the better part of an hour.

Soon, every church planter was speaking 40 minutes or more. Baby boomers came to expect a lengthy sermon delivered live from a stage (or later, on a big screen).

Meanwhile, television and the Internet were shortening attention spans, training our brains to switch channels or scroll through content. Our tolerance for irrelevant or uninteresting content fell.

Here’s the bind pastors find themselves in today: longtime churchgoing adults (who pay the bills) expect the lengthy, multi point sermon. But the people who don’t know Jesus are unlikely to watch such a sermon. Neither are young adults who grew up in church — and who are now abandoning it by the millions.

We’re preaching. But are we reaching?

It’s time to fix this. I’m working on a new kind of sermon that:

1. Fulfills the Biblical mandate to “preach the Word.”
2. Is brief enough to be watched, remembered and shared online (even by unchurched people).
3. Can be shared in real time, even as it’s being preached
4. Pleases longtime churchgoers who expect a lengthy monologue sermon

I call this Hybrid Preaching. If you’ve got 30 minutes, I explain it in detail in this video:

If you don’t have time to watch the video, here’s a brief summary of how hybrid preaching works:

1. On Wednesday you pre-record the middle of your Sunday sermon. Format it for the Internet:
   • Start with a strong hook to capture attention.
   • Keep it short – 8 to 18 minutes.
   • Single point.
   • Use a visual
2. Post that sermon on the church’s website on Saturday
3. Create a QR code that links back to the sermon
4. On Sunday morning, as you enter the pulpit do your announcements and sermon set up as usual. Bible reading, background on the text, etc. Take 10 minutes. (You can ad-lib this, no need to prepare another sermon)
5. Before you roll the sermon video, put the QR code up on the screen. Ask people to shoot it with their phones. The sermon they’re about to see appears on their phones. Challenge them to share the sermon with someone else as they watch it.
6. Roll the sermon. Pray as the sermon rolls.
7. After the video sermon is complete, get back up and do what God tells you to do: an altar call, a further explanation, take questions, etc.

This hybrid preaching model has many advantages, as you’ll see if you watch the video. Here are just a few:

1. Pre recording allows you to edit out your flubs
2. Posting a shorter message to your church’s website will result in more views. Newcomers who are searching for a church are more likely to watch a 15 sermon than a 45 minute one.
3. People can share your message as they’re watching it. And the recipient is more likely to watch a short sermon than a long one.

I’m looking for a church that’s willing to try hybrid preaching. If the old 1980s model of preaching isn’t working for your church any more and you’re willing to give this a try, contact me by clicking this link.