Jump directly to the Content

What is the best way for pastors to solicit constructive feedback about their preaching from congregants?

Doug Nason responds in our Ask the Experts discussion.

Most preachers are terrified of evaluation and famished for feedback.

The thought of being judged or evaluated can turn naturally effective communicators into quivering, self-conscious, and ineffective performers. All day long we speak to people—without preparation, without notes, and without fear. That's because we don't expect to be evaluated on our everyday conversations. What we look for in our ordinary communication is feedback from our listeners to let us know if the message got through. We welcome feedback—we dread evaluation.

Though feedback is sometimes described as positive or negative, the "feedback" I'm talking about is non-evaluative feedback. "How well did I do?" is an evaluative question. It asks the listener to make a judgment, assess value, and assign a grade. A non-evaluative feedback question would be something like, "What did you hear, and how did it affect you?" It simply asks the listener to report what happened.

Some of the best preachers I know are able ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
A Dramatic Addition to Worship
A Dramatic Addition to Worship
Drama helps satisfy the desire within all of us to be understood, even in our secret parts.
From the Magazine
I Hated ‘Church People.’ But I Knew I Needed Them.
I Hated ‘Church People.’ But I Knew I Needed Them.
As I attended my second funeral in three weeks, two Christians showed me a kindness I couldn’t explain.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close