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Are Shorter Meetings Better?

To say that the trend is toward shorter gospel meetings is a considerable understatement. The trend in the busy world at large is toward shorter and shorter everything -- and so it's no surprise that our special efforts to edify and evangelize are being trimmed.

But are shorter meetings necessarily better? Is a weekend meeting, for instance, better than a meeting that begins on Sunday morning and runs through Friday evening? Since I have been doing the "Diligently Seeking God" series of lessons, the requests that I receive for gospel meetings have run heavily in the direction of weekend requests. That series lends itself especially well to a weekend format, and so I'm no critic of weekend meetings. I do a number of them each year and am a big believer in the good they can do.

But I would be less than honest if I didn't say that I'm concerned. For one thing, are we being completely honest about why we prefer shorter meetings? Can it be denied that we are less and less willing to be inconvenienced by a week-long meeting? Yes, I know they are hard on families, particularly those with small children. But folks, if we wouldn't make that kind of sacrifice (and thereby teach our children the meaning of sacrifice) -- at least once in a while -- who are we kidding to think that we would make greater sacrifices if a "big" situation came along? Would a person really lay down his life for the Lord, if it came to that, who wouldn't even endure the "hardship" of a Sunday-through-Friday gospel meeting? Jesus was rather pointed when He talked about this king of thing: "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much" (Lk. 16:10).

But as a gospel preacher, there is another reason why I hate to see us give up the week-long meeting: there is a kind of good that can be done in a week that can't be done in a weekend. I have always believed that as much good is done outside of the pulpit in a meeting as is done in the pulpit. The encouragement that comes (both to the preacher and to the members of the congregation) from those wonderful conversations, studies, visits, and interactions in between services is a very valuable thing, and frankly, in a weekend jam-packed with nothing but services, there is little or no time for that kind of good to be done. I have come away from weekend meetings feeling that I didn't even get to know the congregation; I just saw their faces from the pulpit. Rarely do I get home from a weekend meeting without wishing that I had had the kind of "space" with the congregation that a week-long meeting affords.

That said, let me also say that weekend meetings can sometimes be more effective than those that are longer. Especially with specific themes or topics, concentrating all the lessons into a tighter format gives them more impact than if they were spread out. I have done the "Diligently Seeking God" lessons in everything from a six-day to a two-day time frame, and there is no doubt that they lose some of their "zip" when they are spread out over too many days.

So what's the conclusion? Well, that both longer and shorter meetings have their place and that we ought not to neglect or give up the good that can come from both kinds of efforts. To congregations serious about wanting to build deeper devotion in their membership, my suggestion is this: don't give up the practice of having some longer meetings (the extra effort and sacrifice will be all to the good), and use shorter meetings for special effect, for a change of pace, or to deal with special topics. Variety is the spice of life, they say, and so the "better" meetings are neither longer nor shorter. They are those that are well-planned to accomplish the specific objectives that have been set for them.

Gary Henry
WordPoints.com