Choosing to Preach Discussion

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Kallie Hutton on Aug. 25, 2010 at 15:28

The size of the crowd should have little to do with what is preached but may affect how you preach it. With smaller crowds, it is easier to be interactive; it feels more like you are talking to people than to an audience.A larger crowd allows less room from interaction but perhaps lends a different energy. That being said, I have only preached to crowds of 10-80 people so I haven’t had much experience preaching to larger audiences.

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Hyung Kim on Dec. 01, 2009 at 02:13

Crowd size matters. If the crowd are too big than definitely the delivery effect will be diminished. In my point, maximum number of people that I can handle for the maximum effect of delivery could be from two hundreds to three hundreds depending on how the pews are arranged and how well the hall and the stage are located. If the crowd are too big (about a thousand), then sound system could become very complicated and the cost for the sound could grow exponentially higher. Also the preacher should use some extra serene for the people who are sitting too far away from the stage. There are other factors of distraction as well if there are too many people gathered in one place. For example, many staff members will be needed for crowd control in order to prevent possible accident caused by moving people in and out. There are always optimal number of people for effective reception of the preaching.

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Johannes Weber on Oct. 31, 2009 at 18:57

Jesus was effective in huge crowd settings (he even fed thousands of people in a literal sense) and he was no less effective in smaller and more personal settings. Crowd size certainly matters but if we understand it as one of many factors that make up the context of our preaching then it can work for us rather than against us as we tailor our format (not the message!) to the audience.

So far the theory. In practice, I have only preached once in my life and really do not claim any expertise. For this reason, let me speak about crowd size from a worship leader’s perspective. Perhaps there are some parallels.

Similar as for a sermon, in contemporary or blended worship today (which is my background – I have only little experience in ultra-contemporary or ultra-conservative settings) the size of the crowd tends to influence the delivery style (that is, the presentation format – if that is a legitimate term at all to refer to what a worship band does). This influence manifests itself in at least two areas:
(1) Production quality
(2) Level of interactivity / connections to individual situations

I would suggest that both areas are paralleled in the relation between sermons and crowd sizes. As Tim has acknowledged in the comment below, he feels that the Sunday morning "stage" event requires more preparation than the youth meeting. Similarly, worship in a small setting (say, the same youth meeting) will probably receive less preparation time than the service on Sunday morning. Now whether that is a good thing is a whole different question, but I would certainly agree that it is a good description of reality.

The second area is the whole idea of interaction and connecting to the audience. Again, the comments below reflect the reality that there seems to be an anti-proportional relation between the size of the crowd and the preacher’s options to engage them directly in the situation that they find themselves in. In worship we have similar dynamics: when I know a mid-sized crowd fairly well then I can seek to tailor the worship set in a way that meets them where they are and that is likely to encourage them personally and powerfully as they meet God on Sunday morning. In a small group this becomes an even stronger factor – we may even share and pray together and perhaps respond to spontaneous song requests. In a large setting, by contrast, all we can do is develop a worship set that fairly generically invites people into the presence of God and that helps them to prepare for the sermon.

The question is: is one better than the other? Again, in Jesus’ ministry we find both, large and small crowds, just as today. I believe that God can use a more generic large-setting sermon or worship set to speak just as personally to someone as he would through a more personalized approach in a small setting. The truth is that people seek different kinds of settings due to different personality preferences and backgrounds. I would suggest that one is not better than the other as long as we as preachers and worship leaders are aware of the dynamics of the particular context that we are ministering in, and properly take the factor "crowd size" into consideration.

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Tim Stewart on Oct. 24, 2009 at 16:14

I appreciate hearing all these comments – they reflect a wide variety of experiences.
I especially appreciate Ryan Bajema’s comment a year ago – that, even when attendance is small, we can think of the people "beyond" the audience – people who are connected to our audience, outiside of the church building. How else will a church grow?

We, as preachers, must strive to avoid a co-dependency relationship with our audience, in which we derive our strength and security from the crowd. Imagine the empowering effect we can have on any sized audience, when we take them seriously!

I admit that preaching on a Sunday morning intimidates me in such a way that I take greater care to prepare and polish. Speaking to my youth group on Friday nights is great, but I feel much more comfortable with less preparation.

Personally, I love an interactive atmosphere. Maybe I’m a teacher at heart. I love drawing images, examples, and applications out of people. I like to show care by listening and walking through problems with them. This works in a classroom or Bible study.

But, on stage, these possibilities are limited. I can ask them questions. I can tell them to discuss with their neighbor. I dream of, one day, instigating discussion groups after a sermon, like I do at youth group.
But I think that the stage-crowd atmosphere produces an interesting effect on the relationship between preacher and audience. The preacher becomes an object. The preacher is de-humanized. The preacher becomes a spectacle to watch and a voice to hear, with sound-bites to remember.

Sure, pastoral relationships can add a personal feel to a sermon. But for reverent listeners who want to hear "the voice of God" in a sermon, they might consider it necessary to ignore the existence of the human preacher as much as possible.

A preacher in front of a big crowd tries to convey a "big idea," and to provide a broadly appealing "image" and "story." He wants to reveal general truths that apply to as many listeners as possible. He wants the audience to hear from God, and might choose to minimize himself as much as possible.

I think the contrast between big and small group dynamics is a permanent reality that we just need to understand how to deal with.
In small groups, we can seek to come alongside the audience, walking and talking with them as they discover truth. I think they’d be disappointed if this didn’t happen in that setting.
In large groups, people might become uncomfortable with too much interaction. They might find a preacher’s personable-ness a hindrance to their attempt to look beyond the preacher to hear God’s voice.

I wonder how possible it is for a preacher to be effective at both?

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Yong Wang on Feb. 20, 2009 at 17:06

I do not have experience with big crowd in preaching. According to my personality and past experiences in dramas and talk shows, I guess different crowd size will affect my presentation. Generally speaking, I get more excited in front of a big crowd of people than a small one. It is not that the small crowd cannot excite me. People’s reaction in various ways stimulate my preaching, the Spirit’s presence also does amazing work.

Specifically speaking, the only difference between small and big crowd is the relationship. In a small crowd, it is easy for me to be more relational with them. While as preaching to a big crowd of people, the examples/stories have to be general and broad in a sense that everyone feel they can be part of that. I am glad that usually we will have the context in mind while preparing the sermons.

To me, cognitive (declarative and pragmatic) sermons are not greatly affected by the size of the crowd as other sermons (affection).

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Karl Popke on Feb. 16, 2009 at 22:23

Most certainly the size of one’s audience affects the presentation. The larger the crowd the more one is detached from the listeners. When speaking to hundreds or even thousands there is usually a greater distance between the stage from which the preacher is speaking and his listeners, and what he sees is a sea of people. The intimate connection is lost. He may detect a quite hush and notice people paying attention, or an unrest in the noise and shuffle of the audience, but reading eyes and faces is nearly impossible. However, if one is speaking to a group of hundred or less one will notice even the details of facial expressions as the words penetrate the emotions, the heart and mind of the listeners. In this way it make it possible for him to respond to his listeners. Since a large crowd may also have difficulty in seeing the detailed expressions of the preacher it is important that preacher pay greater attention to his voice fluctuations, expressions, and body movements so as to communicate the sermon more effectively. Preaching to a small group does open the opportunity to have a certain amount of dialogue which one may use as an advantage to communicate God’s message. This also means that speaking preparations will quite different. However, whether speaking to a smaller or larger groups diligent sermon preparations should never be compromised. Let us always consider our work as a work done unto the Lord and understand that every effort is to made to build God’s kingdom.

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Kevin O'Coin on Jan. 15, 2009 at 20:27

For me, the bigger the crowd the better. I feel like the more people looking on, the more permission I have to let loose and be enthusiastic and engaged. It feels more like a show. Of course, this can be a bad thing, and one wants to be engaged and passionate no matter the size of the crowd, but that seems harder for me in a smaller church. My home church has services with hundreds of attendees, but I recently preached to a crowd of 120ish people, which was very different. I felt rather uncomfortable. I sweated a lot. I could see people’s faces and make eye-contact with them. I noticed those people who fell asleep and those who disagreed with what I was saying. And even further, I would hardly call it preaching if I presented that very same material to a small group, and my delivery would be entirely different. I couldn’t even say why….

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Andrew Eby on Nov. 11, 2008 at 15:41

I believe crowd size has a way of changing "how" you speak to the crowd. For instance twice a month at my church we have youth church which is designed to appeal to teenagers. We meet in the youth room and have worship, games, and a message. Depending on the number of teens that come to youth church will change the type of message I give. If 8 teens come down I will not stand up and give them a 20-25 minutes sermon of me just talking to them. I will make it more interactive and "Bible-study like" instead of a lecture. If 50 teens come downstairs then it will feel more like a traditional sermon. Crowd size determines how we approach teaching. If I did a traditional sermon to the 8 teens sitting in the youth room it would feel uncomfortable and awkward. If I did a Bible study style sermon with 50 kids nothing would get accomplished. We need to adapt our delivery style to the crowd size.

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Jason Harder on Nov. 07, 2008 at 12:08

Maybe the problem is not the number of people one is preaching too, but the size of the room being used. Having one hundred people in a room that fit’s five to six hundred people there is no doubt the place will feel empty and it will be hard to create a certain type of atmosphere. Take these same one hundred people and the same preacher and put them in a room that fit’s eighty to one hundred people and you will have a completely different atmosphere. Others in this post have talked about the urgency that was felt when preaching to a larger crowd, there is no reason this urgency can’t be felt with a packed room of fifty people. The size of the revenue can help create this sense of urgency, while at the same time an big empty room kills the atmosphere.
I should not need to write this but it does need to be said. There should be no difference in the type of preparation and study done when speaking to different sizes of groups. What is being taught to fifty people is just as important as what is being taught five thousand. Sure the presentation needs to change but the preparation does not.

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Ryan Bajema on Oct. 31, 2008 at 16:13

I once heard a preacher share a story about how he entered the pulpit of a nearly empty service, feeling passionless, and without any desire to preach. He liked big crowds, and interactive ones at that. This particular sermon, was actually during a funeral, and the gathered few were all well advanced in age, many appearing if they were asleep before the sermon even began.
However, this preacher chose to pray. And he asked the Lord to fill him with a passion to share God’s Word with these chosen few. And as he prayed that prayer to himself at the beginning of his message, this wonderful scripture came to him:

"It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things." 1 Pe 1:12

Suddenly, this preacher realized, that he was not merely there to share with an audience before him, but he was also preaching to an audience beyond him. As he preached, he shares that it was if there were angels filling the pews, cheering him on, longing to hear the message of Jesus proclaimed to them!

I think this is a wonderful reminder to us, that when we preach, we are not merely preaching to those right in front of us, but that there could be those, just beyond us, who long to listen to the message of Jesus! And as we keep this before us, I would argue that we can be passion-filled and inspred to share the gospel, whatever the crowd!

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Ryan Sarenpa on Aug. 20, 2007 at 12:19

As a preacher now for 6+ years, I find that a small crowd can be very challenging to preach for. I agree with the first two posts (Dave Ellis & Aaron Richert). There is a natural energy that comes with larger crowds and fuller sanctuaries; one senses the urgency to preach much more. I was rebuked by a fellow preacher when I had complained about a sparsely filled sanctuary. I was struck to the core when he replied, "Where 2 or 3 are gathered.."

Yes, preaching to a small group lends itself to being more conversational; but when the setting (e.g. a funeral) does not lend itself to a dialogical sermon, the challenge is great. The most intimidating sermon I ever preached was not to a packed house, but one for a funeral in which all of 6 people filled a sanctuary built for 250, and they weren’t even sitting together.

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by dave ellis on Feb. 13, 2007 at 22:51

I have discoverd that crowd size does impact how one preaches. Sometimes unfortuntley the small crowd gets a message that may not be as well planned, and brings a bit more of an attitude of shooting from the hip. Is this wrong, yes Ideally we should put are best into each message, but the large crowds tend to freak us out more, and generally they have a wider spectrum of people, so one often prepares more and tend to rely on God more. Talking to 40 people is way different then talking to 2000, I have discovered that in both, we must trust in God, speak the message he has given to us and be yourself.

re: #15 - Crowd Size

Posted by Aaron Richert on Feb. 13, 2007 at 14:24

Unfortunately I think that when there is a larger crowd of listeners, the expectation of those listeners is that the presentation will be more polished and also that the sermon will be less conversational. In smaller settings, people seem to enjoy more of a conversational feel to presentations. I think the dynamic of a room size plays into effect more than the actual number of people there. With larger crowds, usually the sanctuary is larger and there is a larger physical space between the preacher and the people, which takes away from the conversational nature of a presentation. I think a preacher should take advantage of smaller gatherings and utilize interaction more in the presentations, and in larger settings, do whatever you can to narrow that space between the preacher and the crowd.