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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Preaching feedback
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
If you were to hand out some questions to select parishioners to solicit feedback on your preaching, what questions would you ask? I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear yours first.
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
Do you remember any part of my sermon this morning?
Do you remember any part of my sermon last week?
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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ExclamationMark
Shipmate
# 14715
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
If you were to hand out some questions to select parishioners to solicit feedback on your preaching, what questions would you ask? I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear yours first.
What will you do with what you've heard? What will you do as a result of what you've heard?
Posts: 3845 | From: A new Jerusalem | Registered: Apr 2009
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Prester John
Shipmate
# 5502
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Posted
I would ask about overall trends instead of one or two particular sermons. This would make allowances for you or the respondent having a bad day. It would also factor out any positive or negative extremes.
Posts: 884 | From: SF Bay Area | Registered: Feb 2004
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
It's often said that churchgoers remember very little of the content of sermons. I've seen some French research which suggests that rather than being a form of communication, sermons often serve as an institutional rite whose main purpose is to help bind the worshipping community together, creating a shared identity. This makes sense. If communication were the main goal, then the sermon slot would be more open to reform, taking into account modern research on how people actually learn. But there's an incredible degree of resistance to this. The form takes priority over the content; that's obvious to me.
A more positive reading of the sermon is that it can be likened to a meal; you've been fed, even though you might not remember exactly what the meal was! But you need to be clear in your own mind what preaching means to you, and exactly want you want people to comment on.
As a church steward I occasionally had to give written feedback on sermons. I think the questions were broad and were focused more on impressions rather than specifics. I'd say that asking a yes/no question isn't a great idea, because it's too easy for people to avoid the truth. It's also rather limiting. For example, rather than 'Do you remember what the sermon was about today?' ask 'What was the main message of today's sermon?'
When our minister left we had to have an exit interview with him to discuss, among other things, how his preaching had improved. This was a much more interesting process than filling in a form, and I wished that something similar had happened sooner. If you don't want to have a face-to-face meeting with lay church leaders I still think it would be more be more meaningful to get people to reflect on sermons given over a period of time rather than just one. This would at least offer listeners the chance to focus on the qualities present in some of your best preaching, which might be more comfortable for them than having to comment negatively on a single sermon that they might not like.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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HCH
Shipmate
# 14313
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Posted
Speaking as a a parishioner: a sermon is a success if it gives me something to think about on the way home.
I don't expect wisdom (I know enough about my preachers not to expect that) and while the preachers do exhibit Biblical scholarship, I find that it has little to do with my everyday life. (I may start a thread on that sometime.) One preacher I know loves to talk about his own life; I wish he could develop other interests.
An old piece of advice is to have a strong opening (with a joke) and a strong ending (with a different joke) and put them as close together as possible. That may be a slight overstatement.
Posts: 1540 | From: Illinois, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by HCH:
Speaking as a a parishioner: a sermon is a success if it gives me something to think about on the way home.
A gentleman (now sadly deceased) used to listen intently to my sermons and occasionally take issue with me afterwards - which was a good thing.
On what was virtually his last visit to church, he approached me at the door with a twinkle in his eye. "I'm very cross with you", he said, "I couldn't find anything to disagree with in your sermon today!"
I used the story at his funeral.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Francophile
Shipmate
# 17838
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Posted
Baptist Trainfan, thank you for that lovely recollection.
Posts: 243 | From: United Kingdom | Registered: Sep 2013
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
My father tells a story of a congregation he served for nine year. Towards the end of his time there he one week simply did not have the time to prepare a sermon so pulled one out of the draw (afaik that draw still contains the notes of all my Dad's sermons).
At the door shaking hands with parishioners, one old lady came up and said "Thank you for preaching that sermon today I always thought it was one of your better ones!"
This was back in the days of half hour plus sermons.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Caissa
Shipmate
# 16710
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Posted
Did I clearly outline what I was going to speak about?
Did I clearly speak about it?
Is it relevant to your life?
Posts: 972 | From: Saint John, N.B. | Registered: Oct 2011
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Rosa Gallica officinalis
Shipmate
# 3886
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Posted
can you hear me? Was the pace of my delivery OK? It's surprisingly easy to forget the absolute basics are important.
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Come for tea, come for tea, my people.
Posts: 874 | From: The Hemlock Hideout | Registered: Jan 2003
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Gramps49
Shipmate
# 16378
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Posted
Here is an interesting idea: instead of asking them what they remember, have them take out their cell phones and text your cell phone any questions, comments or concerns about the sermon during the service. Then, after the Eucharist, before the Benediction take a look at what might have been sent to you and address a couple of the comments. People who have tried this report the people become much more engaged in the sermon.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
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Gwalchmai
Shipmate
# 17802
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Posted
Be careful what you ask for. There is a story about the vicar who was flattered when a parishioner said to him after the service, "Your sermon today was like the peace and mercy of God".
It was only later that the vicar remembered that the peace of God passeth all understanding and his mercy endureth for ever.
Posts: 133 | From: England | Registered: Aug 2013
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
Thanks for the input! For the record, this is what I went with for feedback on school mass preaching (given out to teachers):
quote:
1) Did you hear good news? If so, can you state it in one sentence?
2) Do you think the children you teach would have heard good news?
3) Any comments on technique? Volume, speed, length, etc.?
4) How appropriate was the vocabulary, range of images, sentence structure, etc., for your grade level(s)?
5) Any other commendations, recommendations or other comments?
The questions 'worked' in the sense that they elicited useful feedback.
As to Svitalana's point about communication theory, that actually melds very well with how we were taught. There's a paragraph somewhere in Fulfilled in your hearing about one person speaking not being a good way to communicate information. Instead, preaching at the Sunday assembly is meant to be more a celebration of shared faith.
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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