U.S. Protestant pastors are delivering somewhat longer sermons than they did several years ago, while most churchgoers remain generally satisfied with the amount of time their pastors spend preaching, according to Lifeway Research.
The findings are based on a September 2025 telephone survey of 1,003 Protestant senior pastors, ministers and priests.
Four in five pastors, or 80%, said their typical sermon lasts less than 40 minutes. About half, or 52%, said they usually preach for under 30 minutes, while 28% reported messages lasting between 30 and 40 minutes.
Longer sermons were less common. Eleven percent said they typically preach for 40 to 50 minutes, 3% for 50 minutes to an hour and 6% for at least an hour.
Compared with Lifeway’s 2019 survey, sermon length appears to be increasing. The share of pastors reporting sermons under 40 minutes dropped from 85% to 80%, while the percentage preaching for an hour or longer tripled from 2% to 6%.
Clear differences also emerged between evangelical and mainline pastors. Mainline pastors were more likely than evangelical pastors to preach for less than 20 minutes (49% vs. 15%), while evangelical pastors were more likely to deliver sermons lasting between 30 and 50 minutes (53% vs. 24%).
Differences were also seen across racial and ethnic groups. White pastors (23%) were most likely to preach between 15 and 20 minutes, while African American (16%) and Hispanic pastors (14%) were more likely than white pastors (4%) to report sermons lasting more than an hour.
Church size also appeared to influence sermon length. Pastors serving congregations with fewer than 50 attendees (30%) and those with 50 to 99 attendees (27%) were most likely to preach for 15 to under 20 minutes. Pastors at churches with 100 to 249 attendees (31%) and 250 or more (39%) were most likely to report sermons lasting 30 to 40 minutes.
Churchgoers reported a similar pattern. Two in three U.S. Protestant churchgoers, or 67%, said their pastors preach for less than 40 minutes, while 51% attend churches where sermons average between 20 and 40 minutes.
About one-third said their pastors preach for 40 minutes or longer, including 12% who reported sermons lasting 40 to 50 minutes, 9% between 50 minutes and an hour and 12% who attend churches where sermons last at least an hour.
When asked about their preferences, 56% of churchgoers said their ideal sermon length falls within the range their pastor currently preaches.
A quarter of churchgoers (25%) said they would prefer shorter sermons, while 17% said they would like their pastor to preach longer. The share wanting longer sermons has risen from 13% in 2019 to 17% in the latest survey.
More specifically, 41% said they prefer sermons lasting less than 30 minutes, including 13% who favor 15- to 20-minute messages and 25% who prefer 20 to 30 minutes. Another 26% said their ideal sermon length is between 30 and 40 minutes.
