Let me share a controversial conviction I have: A pastor’s job is not to preach. Preaching is a tool in his tool bag in service to his main job. A pastor’s job is not to visit and counsel with people, though he may find himself doing that a lot. 

A pastor’s job is to disciple. The gifts he’s been given are not themselves a job description. His job description is to help people to grow spiritually. A sermon is sometimes a good tool to disciple people. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount outlined his philosophy of ministry. Stephen’s sermon was a transition point for the early church. Many people come to faith because of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit through the sermon.

But an every-Sunday sermon time is often a counterproductive tool bloating congregations with more information for which they are not held accountable, effectively making them more and more hypocritical, the inverse of a discipleship process.

Instead, pastors should be working with individual congregation members (focusing on those who want to grow, beginning with the elders), becoming aware of what they need to grow and helping them overcome the obstacles inhibiting their growth process (and yes, very often that may include preaching).
(picture compliments of http://www.flickr.com/photos/hisprincess/page11/ )