When I moved to California and began looking for a church, I had three criteria: a) sound doctrine, b) authentic worship (regardless of “style”), and c) a service in which I didn’t look at my watch during the sermon.

I found a wonderful church with a great senior minister. He preaches each week with energy and power and somehow connects with non-, new-, and mature believers all at the same time. He’s funny and creative and also actually a good guy.

So this post is not targeted at my current church or any church in particular; it’s just to comment on that fact that—despite everything I wrote above—most Sundays I fight the temptation to leave the service before the sermon. Most Sundays I don’t, because I value the church and want to obey the Bible’s teaching that we should gather together, but most Sundays it’s difficult.

I find it interesting that for all of our focus on being “culturally relevant,” we still think a 30 minute sermon is the way to connect. (Or, out here, closer to 40 minutes. Californians like to think they’re hipper and more in touch than the Bible Belt, but California preachers speak longer than any ministers I listened to in Ohio.)

You could argue that I just have the attention span of a three year old, and I am a member of the generation raised on MTV and 30-second commercials. But I think there’s more to it than age.

In his book Emerging Worship, Dan Kimball develops a persuasive argument (based not only on his read of our increasingly postmodern culture but also on Scripture) that the weekend worship service should not be the primary focus of our programming and planning, and the sermon should not be the biggest element of the service. Instead of long messages, he suggests shorter teaching segments interspersed with reading chunks of Scripture (now there’s an idea!), prayer and reflection on what’s been taught, and worshipful response through singing, giving tithes and offerings, taking communion, journaling, and more.

What I love about the book is that Kimball, and some others who champion this type of service, do so not to be trendy or cutting-edge or generally squirrelly. It’s not about making a statement, it’s about weekend worship as an intentional outgrowth of a broader theology of church.

So maybe I’m longing for more substance, or maybe I’m just young and impatient. Either way, I spend most Sunday mornings doodling through a sermon. Or, like today, drafting something for my blog on the back of the bulletin.