My preaching was getting better and better. People were captivated by my sermons every Sunday. I was nearing my maximum potential as a Christian communicator-at least I thought so.
My wife brought me crashing back to reality. “Darling, you have developed a couple of bad habits during your sermons that really detract from your content and presentation.”
Feedback. . . ouch!
I genuinely recoiled at the suggestion that I needed improvement. I was not at all certain I wanted to hear what she had to say. It was easier to see the church growing-almost every Sunday-than to acknowledge I needed to refine my skills.
Yet feedback is necessary, and we grow through it. But it is not always pleasant.
When I finally listened to my wife, I realized she was right. I had developed a habit of clapping my hands together to emphasize points. It seemed a nice touch, but I was hitting one ring against the other and creating a loud, irritating clank. And to help people through difficult points of Scripture, I was pointing to my head and saying, “We’ve got to think through this truth together.”
Hey, those were terrific gestures! I developed them myself. I had not stolen them from anyone! I really liked them.
Little did I know they were driving the congregation crazy. And no one would tell me except my wife.
In search of evaluation
With this in mind, and as part of a study program, I asked for evaluation of my preaching skills. I mailed evaluation forms to thirty-five people in the church whom I thought would be candid. Each one had heard at least two years’ worth of my sermons. The cover letter explained the project and emphasized my commitment to anonymity-no names on the surveys, stamped return envelopes.
My initial reaction to the feedback was anger and hurt. Though most of the feedback was positive, I saw only the negative. Why would these people hurt me like this? Who do they think they are? What do they know about preaching?
But once I began to think maturely about the situation, I realized they had done exactly what I’d hoped they’d do-give honest feedback. They cared enough about me to help me grow, even if the process hurt momentarily. Proverbs 27:6 helped me at this point: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”
Also, I realized I had asked the opinions of perceptive and intelligent people who observe many public speakers in their careers. They were not about to give me answers that would not be direct and helpful.
I asked for evaluation of six areas:
 Do my introductions make a good first impression?
 Do I establish rapport with the audience?
 Do I reflect humility?
 Are my presentations conducive to learning?
 Am I logical?
 Am I biblical?
In each category my evaluators made helpful suggestions that would improve my sermons. Here is a sample of what they said and how I refined my sermon presentation accordingly.
1. A number of people said I needed to project my voice more during the introduction. I decided to give up some of the “service duties,” such as the offering, so during the early part of the service I could concentrate on my first few words. Through my friends’ feedback I realized I was not single-minded about the sermon when I walked to the pulpit. I now make a concerted effort to grab everyone’s attention during the introduction. I know this is basic, but I had lost sight of it.
2. I needed to improve my initial rapport with the audience by not talking down to them. So I became careful to smile throughout the introduction, use anecdotes that did not point to the audience’s frailties, and use the pronoun we instead of you. I did this by reminding myself during preparation time that we are in this growth process together.
3. The reactions were mixed on whether I reflected humility. But since a number of people commented on my lack of humility, I took their word for it. I asked God to purge me of any pride over the church’s health.
As I prayed and thought about this area, I also realized some people were misunderstanding my humor. My friends tell me my sense of humor is sardonic, bordering on caustic, and sometimes misunderstood by those who don’t know me well or don’t see the twinkle in my eye. I thought I was being witty, but I was perceived as sarcastic. For example, one day when I was stumbling over my words and not explaining my point well, I said, “Intelligent people will understand me.” I meant it to be funny because I obviously was at fault, but many in the audience interpreted it as a put-down. I began to delete some things that were better left unsaid.
4. There were no negative comments on how conducive my sermons were to learning. People said I was honest in admitting my shortcomings. They perceived me as wanting to learn, and this inspired them to learn. This confirmed I was on the right track in sharing myself in my sermons.
The evaluators also perceived me as being biblical and careful to delineate between my insights and God’s wisdom. They considered me logical and structured in what I had to say. This positive feedback actually made me work harder to ensure I remained on track.
Breaking out of a closed system
Scott Peck, in The Road Less Traveled, says, “A life of total dedication to the truth also means a life of willingness to be personally challenged. The only way that we can be certain that our map of reality is valid is to expose it to the criticism and challenge of the other map-makers. Otherwise, we live in a closed system … rebreathing our own fetid air, more and more subject to delusion.”
People tell me I have become a better preacher since I asked for evaluation. The feedback pointed out areas where I did not know I needed to grow and confirmed strengths I thought I had. Indeed, the process has been so helpful I am compiling another list of people to survey. I intend to have people evaluate my preaching on a regular basis for the balance of my ministry.
Oh, by the way, I have broken those two habits to which my wife alerted me. But just to make certain she is still paying close attention, I’m developing a couple of new annoying habits. I’ll see if she can spot them.
-John Vawter
Wayzata Evangelical Free Church
Minneapolis, Minnesota
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE SURVEYS
To be most effective, a survey requires careful planning and analysis. Offering counsel on how to obtain reliable feedback through a sermon survey is Virginia Vagt, director of research and planning for Christianity Today, Inc.
Surveys provide not only comments on where to improve but also two uplifting results: what your people gained from your sermons, and representative feedback. Representative comments-from a cross-section of church people-help keep you from placing undue weight on the scathing individual comment that comes to every pastor from time to time.
To get started, I recommend a written, one-page, anonymous survey focused on a specific sermon. It is easiest for people to respond to something concrete, such as this morning’s sermon. And you will gain specific feedback. Here is a sample survey. (An actual survey would allow space for answers.)
Sermon Survey
The pastor is seeking feedback from people within the congregation. Please take a minute or two right now to complete this survey. Thank you.
1. Overall, how would you rate today’s sermon?
__Excellent     __Good     __Fair          __Poor
2. How would you compare today’s sermon to most of the pastor’s sermons?
__Better     __About the same     __Poorer
If today’s sermon seemed better or poorer than usual, why?
3. What are the main points you remember from today’s sermon?
4. What, if anything, did you gain from the sermon?
5. What, if anything, did you think was weak about the sermon?
6. Do you think today’s sermon will change your life in any concrete way? (e.g., change an attitude, cause you to do anything differently, etc.)
__Definitely yes     __Probably yes        __Maybe     __Probably not
If yes, what do you think will change?
7. If you could tell the pastor one positive thing about his/her sermons, what would it be?
8. If you could give the pastor one suggestion about sermon content or delivery, what would it be?
9. Please add any other comments you may have about today’s sermon or other sermons.
10. Are you: __Male     __Female
11. Your age:Â __Under 30Â Â Â Â Â __30 – 49Â Â Â __50 or over
12. How long have you attended this church?
__Less than 1 year     __1 – 3 years     __More than 3 years.
Suggested procedures
Number of surveys: Regardless of the size of your church, fewer than twenty returns may not be enough feedback, and more than fifty per Sunday is not necessary to get representative opinions. You won’t get every survey back, so pass out twenty-five to fifty.
Distribution: Pick one or more personable and trustworthy people to distribute the survey.
I suggest these people approach individuals as they leave the sanctuary, asking them if they would like to help the pastor by taking a few minutes to complete a survey on today’s sermon. (Because of the recall questions, it will be most accurate and helpful if people complete the survey right away.)
The persons should hand them out to a mix of young and old, men and women, leaders and nonleaders, and new and long-term members. The survey distributors can personally collect the surveys or tell people where to place them. A cardboard box nearby marked SURVEYS would ensure anonymity.
The distributors should thank people for their time.
It’s possible that a few people may not be honest or fair, so I recommend surveying a cross section of church members on at least three or four Sundays.
Tabulating and analyzing the results: While you may want to just read through all the survey forms, tabulating the answers gives you a better understanding of what the feedback really means. You will see what percentage of your respondents felt positively or negatively about the sermon.
Some tips:
-Use a blank copy of the survey to record your tabulations and analysis.
-If you see major differences in the way people answer based on age, sex, or length of time at your church, you may want to tabulate each group separately. For example, separately tabulate surveys from male and female respondents, or those under thirty and those over thirty.
-On questions 1, 2a, and 6a, find percentages for each answer. Save these percentages and compare them to the answers to your next sermon survey. If the next message is a different type, and you receive a significantly higher or lower score (more than 10 percentage points), you can conclude something about your congregation’s receptivity to these two types of sermons.
-On the remaining questions, it would be helpful to count the number of times a response is repeated. For example, on question 3, count which point in your sermon was remembered by the greatest number of people and which was remembered by the least number of people.
Throughout the tabulation, pay attention to the repeated comments. These represent the typical response to your sermons. Don’t place lots of weight on the single complaint. Perhaps you can’t help taking such comments to heart, but remember, they represent only one person’s view, not the church’s as a whole.
Using the results: Think back. Using question 3 again, was the most remembered point the first point? Did it have the most graphic image associated with it? There may be more than one reason why it was most remembered. These reasons will tell you something about your congregation and how to best communicate with them.
The results may make intuitive sense to you. They may not. If there is something truly baffling about the results to any question, you may want to talk it over with an elder you trust. It’s always helpful to have more than one interpretation of survey results.
Copyright © 1987 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
