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Forgiveness & Reconciliation in sermons

Forgiveness & Reconciliation comes up in 5.0% of the 49,328 transcribed sermons on Divining, most often in African Methodist Episcopal (8.2%), Lutheran (8.1%), Christian / non-denominational (6.2%) churches. It is preached more since 2025 (6.1% of sermons, up from 4.4%).

5.0% of sermons2,471 sermons14 denominations

Sermons on this theme talk about forgive, forgiveness, reconciliation, seventy times seven, hold a grudge, make amends, let go of the hurt, restore the relationship. Part of Love, Family & Relationships. Least common in Catholic churches (0.3%).

Year by year

ProgressiveMainlineBlack churchEvangelicalAll churches
0%2.5%5%7.5%10%12.5%201620182020202220242026Progressive 2016: 8.8%Progressive 2017: 7.5%Progressive 2018: 7.0%Progressive 2019: 5.0%Progressive 2020: 4.6%Progressive 2021: 3.3%Progressive 2022: 4.3%Progressive 2023: 6.5%Progressive 2024: 5.9%Progressive 2025: 4.4%Progressive 2026: 5.0%Mainline 2016: 0.0%Mainline 2018: 4.5%Mainline 2019: 2.5%Mainline 2020: 2.9%Mainline 2021: 2.5%Mainline 2022: 2.3%Mainline 2023: 3.5%Mainline 2024: 4.6%Mainline 2025: 3.4%Mainline 2026: 4.5%Black church 2022: 2.9%Black church 2023: 0.0%Black church 2024: 8.1%Black church 2025: 8.5%Black church 2026: 9.0%Evangelical 2016: 11%Evangelical 2017: 4.8%Evangelical 2018: 6.0%Evangelical 2019: 5.1%Evangelical 2020: 8.2%Evangelical 2021: 2.9%Evangelical 2022: 3.5%Evangelical 2023: 7.1%Evangelical 2024: 7.7%Evangelical 2025: 7.0%Evangelical 2026: 7.5%All churches 2016: 8.6%All churches 2017: 5.7%All churches 2018: 6.3%All churches 2019: 4.9%All churches 2020: 5.2%All churches 2021: 3.1%All churches 2022: 3.8%All churches 2023: 6.1%All churches 2024: 6.1%All churches 2025: 5.4%All churches 2026: 6.3%

By denomination

African Methodist Episcopal: 8.2% of 1,402 sermonsAfrican Methodist Episcopal8.2%Lutheran: 8.1% of 639 sermonsLutheran8.1%Christian / non-denominational: 6.2% of 7,785 sermonsChristian / non-denominational6.2%Baptist: 6.0% of 6,663 sermonsBaptist6.0%Unitarian Universalist: 4.7% of 21,206 sermonsUnitarian Universalist4.7%Orthodox: 4.6% of 305 sermonsOrthodox4.6%Jewish: 4.5% of 242 sermonsJewish4.5%Mennonite: 4.4% of 227 sermonsMennonite4.4%Unity: 4.4% of 844 sermonsUnity4.4%United Church of Christ: 3.8% of 2,752 sermonsUnited Church of Christ3.8%United Methodist: 3.5% of 3,745 sermonsUnited Methodist3.5%Presbyterian: 3.3% of 300 sermonsPresbyterian3.3%Episcopal: 2.2% of 2,010 sermonsEpiscopal2.2%Catholic: 0.3% of 334 sermonsCatholic0.3%

All churches: 5.0%. Denominations with 150+ tagged sermons.

Preached alongside

Themes that share a sermon with Forgiveness & Reconciliation more often than chance (×2 = twice as often as in sermons overall).

The Persecuted Church ×5.1Prison & Restorative Justice ×2.6Romans ×2.3Crucifixion & Atonement ×2.0Peace & Nonviolence ×2.0Shame & Guilt ×2.0Sin & Repentance ×1.9Jonah ×1.9

Churches that preach it most

Listen to sermons on Divining

Share of transcribed sermons on Divining with at least one chapter on a theme, from Divining’s topic segmenter; 2016 to Nov 2026. Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Site map · Divining: a deeper search for meaning · build_seo_pages v0.0.1