Constructive Criticism: The Day A Staff Member Told Me I Was Preaching Too Long

A healthy church fosters an atmosphere where people feel free to express their ideas openly – especially at the leadership level.

It was a sunny, California Wednesday morning.,br/>
We were having our weekly staff meeting, innocently sorting out the details for an upcoming service, when I mentioned an illustration I wanted to close out my sermon with.

Then it happened.

One of the staff members spoke up. “We already have a lot going on in the service agenda for that day. We can only do that if you shorten your sermon a bit, because the last couple weeks you’ve gone long.”

No one in the room gasped, averted their eyes, or thought “Oh, that’s too bad, I’m going to miss working with you.” It was just another piece of honest feedback, and we all took it as such.

I responded with, “yeah, I’ll have to cut back if we’re going to add that illustration.” Then we moved on to the next agenda item.

The moment meant so little to us that no one thought anything of it. In fact, they’re probably scratching their heads as they read this, trying to remember when the meeting in question happened.

Every healthy staff should be able to offer constructive criticize to other members, including the lead pastor, with that little amount of concern. Read More