The 7 Minute Rule

Many individuals wake up on Sunday morning and attend Sunday church services. Some services might include a homily or sermon presented by a priest, pastor, or minister.  Did you ever feel like these homilies can drag on forever?  It might be a good idea to talk to your priest, pastor, or minister about the 7-minute rule.

The 7-minute rule started years ago with my former priest, Fr. Michal Lewon.  Fr. Michal has always believed that his homilies should last no longer than 7 minutes.  So, he was trying to condense his homilies while making them as meaningful and engaging as possible!  My family decided to assist him with this goal by instituting a signal when his homilies lasted longer than 7 minutes. Once Fr. Michal hit 7 minutes, we would all tap our wrists with our index fingers.  This simple gesture would indicate that his homily was at 7 minutes, and he needed to wrap it up.  True story.

Since then, I have shared this rule with priests I've encountered, and they really get a kick out of it!  I mainly attend Christ the King Church in Sioux Falls because I teach a religious education class in the parish on Wednesday evenings. I've recently started timing Fr. Jordan Samson's homilies.  The times shown in the picture are actually times I recorded during one of his homilies.  Fr. Samson ended his homily in 7 minutes and 38 seconds, the ideal time.

Talk to your church service leaders about the 7-minute rule! It could create many meaningful homilies or sermons and fun memories for years to come!