Did That Really Happen? 10 Hilarious Preaching Moments

Sometimes things don't go as planned while you're preaching. 

Knowing this, Thom Rainer recently asked his social media followers the following question.

Pastors: What is something strange or funny that happened to you while you were preaching? - Thom Rainer

And the responses to his post? They did not disappoint.

10 Hilarious Preaching Moments

1. One pastor said, “I was giving the altar call and a woman’s glass eye popped out and rolled down the aisle.”

It was in that moment, upon the preacher’s masterful illustration, Ms. Wendy’s eyes opened wide. She realized she could only see by faith, not by sight. 

2. Another said, “I had a man stand up, start shouting at me, and then he started to undress. My deacons stepped in before he got his pants off.”

I think we all want to know what the preacher said that… set him off. 

3. Pray for this preacher: “I had an older lady in my congregation who was a hard of hearing but she was faithful in attending. As she was leaving one Sunday I thanked her for coming and she said ‘young man, that was the best sermon you’ve ever preached! I didn’t hear a word of it!’”

What do you even say to that? 

4. I suppose everyone heard it? “The pastor I was preaching for and candidating to be youth pastor for got up while I was praying and went outside to throw up. I got the job though!”

Hopefully their altar call hymn that day was, I surrender all.

5. I bet he never lived this down. “An elderly deacon who was to pray our benediction that day dozed off during the sermon. When his wife elbowed him to wake him up, he promptly stood up and began to pray aloud. I was only halfway through the message.”

That day, the baptists did, in fact, beat the Methodists to lunch. 

6. When the preacher is still on point 1 and you know they’ve got 3: “Once while supply preaching, an elderly gentleman who was hard of hearing and because of that spoke in almost a shout when he thought he was whispering, nudged his wife near the end of my sermon and loudly said: “If I’d known he was going to preach this long, I would have brought a sandwich with me!”A mix of horror and laughter fell over the faces of the congregants.”

I wonder if he ever got invited back.

7. I would love to have seen video of this: "In Kansas, I was preaching an overview on Romans 6-8 and specifically on the topic of the security of the believer's salvation. A guy who I somewhat knew (who was off on a lot of theology - lived in a combine and operated more Amish/German Mennonite) happened to visit our church for a second time and preceded to walk into the pulpit and yell me down and tell everyone i was a false teacher ... from the pulpit during a service! Did I do anything? No. Did our security team? No need - the little older ladies of the church ran him out with cains raised.”

When you meet these ladies in heaven, you’ll need to head to the south side. I’ll be there too. 

8. He just wanted some water! “Asked for a bottle of water and get a few guys immediately walking into the auditorium drawing their guns because that was the security code.”

Apparently they didn’t want to share.

9. Add this to the cringe category: “A guy leaned up on the pew in front of him and begins clipping his finger nails…”

Do you address it or just let him go? I want to know if he ever went back and cleaned up his mess.

10. Just trying to set the mood: “Had been preaching for 15 minutes at a small, country church. A really loud bell dinged and the pianist got up, walked to the piano, sat down and started playing softly. I preached for at least another 15 minutes with musical accompaniment while she stared daggers through me.”

I wonder who stopped first? The pianist or the preacher.

For the Preachers

While I can't guarantee that something hilarious or unfortunate won't happen to you while you preach, I can offer my free 10-Step Guide to Writing a Sticky Sermon to help you make sure that you're bringing your best sermon to the pulpit week in and week out.

What happens from there? Only God knows.