Choosing to Preach Discussion
#15 - Crowd Size
Posted by Kent Anderson on August 26, 2006 19:15
How does the size of the crowd affect your presentation? Is there an optimum size for certain kinds of presentations? How should we alter our preaching as the crowd of listeners grows in size?
(from page 109)
Replies
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.