From what I've seen in my limited experience of religious gatherings the format generally consists of a preacher of some form giving his (or, in some more liberal cases - her) impression of a passage in the *insert religious text here*.
I've also sat in many lectures at university and I've noticed that the fundamentals are the same - one guy or gal giving their impression of *insert scientific text here*.
There is one very subtle but important difference I've noticed though... during a sermon no one ever puts their hand up and asks a tough question - they just sit there and listening, nodding, agreeing, smiling - why?
Does anyone ever ask questions during or straight after a sermon? What's your experience?
Over to you