By Eric McKiddie
Pastors need feedback in order to improve their sermons. But helpful feedback on your sermon is hard to come by.
“Thank you” from our church as they shuffle out encourages us, but doesn’t tell us what we did well or why. Nor can we trust the woulda-coulda-shouldas that flood our head in the car ride home. I don’t know about you, but after preaching Sunday morning my brain operates at the intellectual level of tree bark. I shouldn’t be critiquing my sermon. I probably shouldn’t even be driving. To fill this need for brutally honest, educated, and constructive feedback, I suggest you start a mid-week sermon feedback meeting.
Every Wednesday several of us on the ministry staff at my church meet in our lead pastor’s office for what we call “Scripture and Sermon”. We spend the first 15 minutes reviewing last Sunday’s sermon: what was strong, what was unclear, where it could have been improved, etc. Over the next 30-45 minutes we dig into the upcoming sermon text together. Question like,
