Church behaviour

Submitted by David on Wed, 2007-04-04 23:07

Ever wonder about the habits that some people have in churches?

... [The research] questions the wisdom of centuries-old habits, such as reading along with Bible passages, at the same time they are being read aloud in church. More of the passages would be understood and retained, the researchers suggest, if heard or read separately.

Tim Keller suggests (in this talk I think) that encouraging people to take notes minimizes the impact of sermons. Of course, he also argues for an evangelistic worship, arguing that a lot of Christians treat sermons as lectures rather than sermons.

I think that I'd agree with the first bit, but am undecided about the merits of note-taking. Your thoughts on this matter?

Comments

Wes Bredenhof

Thu, 2007-04-05 00:21

I encourage congregation members to follow along with an open Bible and take notes. Usually when I preach a Bible passage I try to follow the flow of the passage and people will get the most out of such a sermon if they're following along with an open Bible. It's a sort of expository preaching.

The note taking is helpful for two reasons: if (like me) you have problems focussing and are easily distracted, note taking can be a real help. It can also be a real help if you struggle with staying awake in church. There are other benefits, but those are two big ones. As a preacher, I'm always encouraged to see people with pen in hand eagerly listening. As they're taking notes, I know that they're really listening. When I was a regular pew-sitter, I took notes for several years and it was always a blessing. Still today I can go back to those notes and spiritually benefit from what I heard.

Making sermons is hard work, but listening to them can also be a challenge.

Roger (not verified)

Thu, 2007-04-05 02:47

I've found that since I began to take notes (for most sermons), I've had a much easier time of following along and retaining what I've heard so that I can apply it later on in the day/week/whatever period of time you like. If I don't, there's a large chance my mind is going to zone out/wander especially since I'm not a morning person (yes 9:30 is still early for me, yes lazy I know)! Granted, some are a lot easier to take notes for than other preachers, so for some preachers sometimes I don't bother attempting to take notes and just try to listen.

As far as reading goes, quite often I get mentally frustrated (I think I've been writing too many English papers, including the one I'm procrastinating right now) when I follow along. That's because I read fairly fast, and if someone reads out loud it's at about half the speed (especially scripture readings) that I can read. I can learn things better if I do it myself so often I just read ahead and then sort of sit there for the last little bit waiting for the person reading it aloud to "catch up." BTW, I'm not opposed to reading out loud by any means.

Scott

Thu, 2007-04-05 10:32

I personally get distracted if I take notes, though it's probably better to be distracted with what was just said rather than something completely unrelated.

Following along in the Bible I find very helpful for keeping my attention. The only time following along doesn't work for me is at Bible study when we're taking turns reading; I'm distracted with worrying about when it will be my turn to read.

IMHO the worst distractions in church are from the people behind you kicking the back of your pew, noises from outside the sanctuary (coffee pots brewing), and outside the building (cars without mufflers, ice cream trucks, etc.).

Noise and vibration distractions can be reduced or eliminated with dampening materials in the pews and in/on the walls. Easier to do when you're building your building, but not all are impossible to do afterwards.

The subject of LCD projection has come up previously here on Rotundus. Two and half weeks ago, Rev. Vanderwoerd had a sermon on Nehemiah 3: it deals with the rebuilding of Jerusalem and specifically who did what. (I think Rev. Bredenhof was there for that one.) A map illustrating who rebuilt which portions would have been helpful to hold some people's attention.

An no discussion about focussing attention in church would be complete without mentioning repetition in the sermon. Some ministers are more guilty of this than others. They say the same things over and over, sometimes with slightly different wording. Some are trying to help as many people as possible understand, while others are just not good at writing. Cutting down on repetition can help to keep people's attention. A good wordsmith can find a way to say something once and reach most people.

David

Thu, 2007-04-05 13:12

An no discussion about focussing attention in church would be complete without mentioning repetition in the sermon. Some ministers are more guilty of this than others. They say the same things over and over, sometimes with slightly different wording. Some are trying to help as many people as possible understand, while others are just not good at writing. Cutting down on repetition can help to keep people's attention. A good wordsmith can find a way to say something once and reach most people.

One of the issues here is that repetition can be helpful in attempting to reinforce points such that people will remember them later. A lot of the advice that I've heard as far as presentations are concerned goes something like the following: Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell it to them. Then tell them what you just told them. Of course, it's all a matter of balance.

But perhaps this is again confusing sermons with lectures...

David

Thu, 2007-04-05 13:04

Perhaps a distinction should be made between taking a few sparse notes and attempting to transcribe the sermon in its entirety?

Wes Bredenhof

Thu, 2007-04-05 16:53

Yes. I've given some tips on sermon note-taking here .

Calvin (not verified)

Mon, 2007-04-09 13:55

Intriguing discussion here. I thought I would share my two bits.

A lot of you raise some good points. I have to agree with Rev. Bredenhof's two reasons for taking notes in church (and the list for effective note-taking). I ALWAYS struggled to stay awake in church and rarely at best I came away edified. That was no doubt my fault for staying up too late on Saturdays and I surely can't pin the blame on the preacher because the preaching was excellent.

Now I am a note-taker - been so for a year and a half. I fill about 3-4 pages (about 9*6 size) for every sermon, excluding Lord's Supper sermons. That being said it has truly done wonders.

The benefits of note-taking are even better than I ever imagined before I began. Maybe I was a little bit leery of what others would think of me for carrying a notebook into church. Thought it might spur a few people to think I thought I was better than them. Well there wasn't much of that. I've also been able to retain useful knowledge from MOST of the sermons I heard since I began note-taking. And best of all, I have never fallen asleep ONCE since I began. Now after each semester ends I catalogue the sermons into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and keep it on file. This way I can reread them and note which sermons were special and so I can refer back to them. Since I'm now a note-taker I don't know when or if I will ever go back to being a simple sit-and-listener.

John (not verified)

Mon, 2007-05-07 00:52

I encourage people NOT to read along in their Bibles.

First, when you're reading, you're the one who is in control. That's how it is with sight. If you don't like something you're seeing, you can close your eyes. With hearing, someone else is in control. If you don't like what you're hearing, you can try to close your ears but it won't work: he can always talk louder. The only solution is to leave. Hearing, unlike sight, involves submission.

And so the command in Scripture is not "Read the Word." There's no verse that tells us to read the Bible every day or anything like that and for most of history most people couldn't read anyway. Rather, the commandment is to HEAR the Word. We are to submit to God, to let Him speak to us, and I'd submit that the best posture for that is looking up at the one who is reading Scripture to us, like an army looking at the king for commandments, than like scholars peering at our texts.

Second, the sermon isn't a lecture and the church building is not a lecture hall. The sermon is part of the liturgy, part of our worship. Note taking may be appropriate once in a while. Some people do find it helps them concentrate. But the point is to hear God's Word, not to take notes like scholars interested in finding something new about the Bible.

Some thoughts, anyway.