At my Quaker meeting there is a friend who often asks, when he's spoken during meeting for worship, if his ministry was too long. He is quite verbose - I jokingly replied this Sunday past that if he spoke for less than five minutes, I'd worry that something was wrong, to which he burst out laughing.
He's got me thinking, though - how long is too long? I have not yet felt moved to speak in meeting, so I have no personal basis for comparison. Some people's ministry is very short - a few words, a reading of a passage from Quaker Faith & Practice that they find relevant to us all that day - and some is longer.
I think that while succintness and plainness of speech is prized among Friends, it is important that when we are moved to give ministry we share all of what we need to say - no more and no less. To deprive the meeting of your full ministry because you feel you have spoken too long would be a real shame, and I'd rather sit and listen to you for a while than miss out on what you have to say.
To those reading this - what are your feelings and experiences with ministry? How long do you think is too long?
