Hour-Long Sermons Triple Since 2019 as Southern Pastors Say Hearers Want More Preaching
A Lifeway Research study found 6% of Protestant pastors now preach more than an hour, and pastors in Tennessee and Alabama say many listeners are hungry for longer messages.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —
The share of Protestant pastors who preach for more than an hour has tripled since 2019, from 2% to 6%, according to a Lifeway Research study, and several pastors in Tennessee and Alabama say their congregations are glad to listen longer, The Baptist Paper reported in a story published by Kentucky Today on Oct. 25.
Lifeway surveyed 1,003 Protestant pastors by phone Sept. 2-24, 2025, and 1,200 Protestant churchgoers online Sept. 2-7, 2025, The Christian Post reported when the study was released. Eighty percent of pastors said their usual sermon runs under 40 minutes, down from 85% in 2019. Seventeen percent of churchgoers said they want a longer sermon than their pastor usually preaches, up from 13%, while 25% want a shorter one.
“The majority of churchgoers prefer sermons of at least a half hour,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. Black and Hispanic pastors were more likely than white pastors to preach more than an hour.
Lewis McMullen, who coaches young church planters for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, told The Baptist Paper that “a lot of people are wanting the longer message.” Blake Pierce, pastor of Christ Fellowship Murfreesboro, said his hearers “are very willing to sit and continue listening.”
Jarman Leatherwood, president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention and pastor of House of Hope and Restoration Church in Huntsville, said young listeners could take in an hour of teaching. “As long as they are learning, they can take what they're learning and apply to their life,” he said. Trent Roseman, a church planter with Redeemer City Church in Knoxville, said many are “hungry for something that is not cheap, quick truth.”
Not every pastor is stretching out. David Roach, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Saraland, Ala., said he can usually cover a Bible passage well in about half an hour if he is “appropriately concise.”
McConnell cautioned that sermon length says more about the habits of a pastor and church than about whether a sermon is good. Roseman told The Baptist Paper that not every preacher should preach the same amount of time.
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