Letter: The best sermons last the distance

Sir: My aunt often complained about the length of my sermons, quoting her vicar who said that if it couldn't be said in 10 minutes, it wasn't worth saying. I responded by saying that if it could be said in 10 minutes, the preacher clearly hadn't got anything to say]

Your report ('Preachers decide time is right to cut back on tradition,' 3 May) could have made mention of George Whitefield, probably the greatest preacher England has ever produced, who regularly preached in the open air for an hour or more to crowds of up to 50,000 in the mid-1700s (Benjamin Franklin didn't believe this until he heard Whitefield in America for the first time).

Yours sincerely,

DIGBY L. JAMES

Weston Rhyn

Shropshire

3 May