Visionary

Statistics on Preaching 

On Sunday 29th April 2001 100,000 churchgoers were asked to answer questions about their faith for the Church Life profile. One of the questions was: 

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement  

“The preaching I hear in this local church is usually very helpful to me in my everyday life”

  • 57% agreed with the statement   
  • 25% agreed strongly with the statement       
  • 14% were neutral      
  • 3% disagreed with the statement        
  • 1% strongly disagreed with the statement

Source: Faith in Life published by Churches Information for Mission published 2001

The Mystery Worshipper Sunday in Greater London in 2005 looked at the length of sermons. 70 churches across London were visited by mystery worshippers. Here is a summary of their findings on sermons: 

  • The Church of England seemed to deliver the briefest sermons 6 out of the 10 shortest sermons were in Anglican churches
  • Average sermon length was just over 20 minutes. The longest sermon was 80 minutes
  • 10 Churches preaching the shortest sermon
    1. 5 mins Hinde St. W1 (Methodist)
    2. 5 mins St Alfege, Greenwich (Anglican)
    3. 6 mins Westminster Abbey (Anglican)
    4. 6 mins St Margarets Westminster (Anglican)
    5. 6 mins St Stephens Lewisham (Anglican)
    6. 7 mins St John The Evangelist, Waterloo (Anglican)
    7. 7 mins Brompton Oratory, Kensington (RC)
    8. 8 mins Our Lady and St Joseph, Hackney (RC)
    9. 8 mins American Church in London (Independent)
    10. 8 mins St Mary the Virgin, Hayes (Anglican)
  • 10 churches preaching the longest sermons
    1. 80 mins Pierres Vivantes Hyde Park (service in French)
    2. 60 mins KICC, Hackney
    3. 53 mins Hillsong Dominion Theatre
    4. 52 mins Westminster Chapel
    5. 45 mins Redeemed Christian Church of God, Tooting
    6. 43 mins Covent Garden Evangelical Church
    7. 42 mins Metropolitan Tabernacle, Elephant and Castle
    8. 35 Mins West Croydon Baptist Church
    9. 35 mins Church of the Nazarene, Clapham
    10. 34 mins Westbourne Grove Independent Baptist, Notting Hill

Source: Chritian Today Monday May 9th 2005

In 2002 The Salvation Army surveyed 4000 churches looking at the reasons why churches grow. Here is a summary of the results of the part of the survey that looked the preaching base of churches and how that affects growth or decline in the numbers of regular worshippers:  

  • Lectionary reading base:                    
    • 38% of churches increasing in numbers
    • 52% decreasing in numbers
  • Series or theme base:
    • 28% of churches increasing in numbers
    • 21% of churches declining in numbers       
  • Individual Approach base:
    • 20% of churches increasing in numbers
    • 15% of churches declining in numbers
  • Consecutive exposition base:
    • 13% of churches increasing in numbers
    • 8% of churches declining in number 
  • Everyday issues base:
    • 5% of churches increasing in numbers
    • 5% of churches decreasing in numbers

Source: Religious Trends No. 4 2003/4

In October and November 2001 601 Pastors in America were asked by the Barna Group to rate their own performance. 90% thought they were above average at preaching and describe their performance as either good or excellent.