The article describes the category of tone with reference to sermons and reveals explication peculiarities in the genre in question. The analysis proves there exist genre-forming tones (reverential, edifying, and conversational). Thus, the reverential and edifying tones reflect the preacher's intermediary position propagating God's word, while the conversational one is aimed at the addressee creating an atmosphere of confidentiality and sincerity, equaling the two sides of the sermon in the face of God.