“Let unity run clear through the sermon, and clear out. If there be other lessons to be taught from the text, teach them in other sermons” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 210).
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… which admonition points to shorter sermons, not the 40 minute lectures which these kids now days like parade to us. (I’m aware the old stalwarts went on for more than an hour — so what’s the difference? Ye old foggies extended their clarity through applications, not a running ‘verse-by-verse’ explicationism with psychoBible applications for which they unabbashedly report spending half their salary preparing — and we’re talking for ONE “sermon”! I’ll bet the dead preacher guys spent one tenth the time “preparing” for ten times the content — though I’d have like to see them shorten things up by… Read more »
One of many things I like about being Anglican — lots of liturgy but the sermons are reasonably short and to-the-point.
Although I am Catholic, I agreed to bring my daughter up Anglican. I liked the service very much, and loved the hymns. I returned to my own church after my daughter’s Confirmation. A major reason was that a married gay priest became our rector. I am pretty tolerant of all things gay, but not in church. Has that been an issue in your neck of the woods? The silly part of me (a very large part) kind of wanted to hang around for a bit to see if the priest’s spouse would do the all the usual things like attending… Read more »
My parish is continuing Anglican. It’s not part of the mainline Episcopal/Anglican church–very far from it.
I looked for one near me, but couldn’t find one. I hope I will always be Catholic, but sometimes I do enjoy traditional Anglican worship. It is wrong of me to complain, but sometimes I would like a mass with no guitars, drums, and hand-holding with strangers!
Yeah, Catholics who worship with us say our service is much more high church than what they’re used to.
A good sermon I can’t get enough of, 40 minutes is fine, it may be too short.
It’s not the length, it’s the unity. Even a small painting can be chaotic where a large one might have a lot going on and still hold together.