In the aftermath of a very successful 2012 National Festival, I pause to give thanks for one of the many fruitful partnerships we have developed over the past few years.

The Alliance for Christian Media, located in Atlanta, has been involved with the Academy from the beginning. They are one of 50 founding partners who have officially endorsed our mission to identify, network, support, and inspire young preachers across the country. Furthermore, they have provided hands-on expertise to help us share our story and expand our reach.

Rev. Peter Wallace, the recently named President of the Alliance and the executive producer of the Day 1 radio program, has attended the last two festivals as an exhibitor, sermon evaluator, and video interviewer. This year he talked to four Festival participants about their call to gospel preaching: Jean-Daniel Cathell Williams (Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT), Joseph T. Howard (Andersonville Theological Seminary, Camilla, GA), David Telfort (Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA) and Kristina Heise (Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, IL).

(Today’s guest writer is David Telfort, AoP ‘12. David attends Occidental College in Los Angeles and participated in the National Festival of Young Preachers this year for the first time. Here, he shares his take-away from the experience.)

As I came home and tried to explain what I had experience at the National Festival of Young Preachers, I was left with inadequate words and phrases.

It was more than an opportunity to preach a finely crafted and divinely inspired sermon. It was more than a gathering to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones. It was more than a way to reassure that the future of preaching was safe or that there were in fact young vessels being used by God in an age where young people seem disengaged with the church.

I found in those four days in Louisville an “on time” word from God, spoken not only to me, but to every person in attendance. We were being assured of our call and our paths, but even more than that, we were being challenged. Challenged to be prophetic in our words and our actions to articulate systems of privilege that marginalized those who did nothing but be born poor.

We were challenged to step away from the seductive paths of the “successful” ministries of old that rewarded comfort and passive love. We were challenged…to be like Jesus. The Festival poured into me a fiery word that will fuel my 2012 and beyond.

It cemented the understanding that Jesus is seeking women and men of all hues, classes, sexual preferences, denominations and educational backgrounds who will “heal the sick there, and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you” (Luke 10:9, NKJV).

(Want to share your Festival experience in writing? Email charissa.acree@gmail.com.)

Austin. Cincinnati. Atlanta. Palm Beach. Kansas City. Fort Worth. Evansville. Nashville.

These are a few of the sites planning to host a Festival of Young Preachers during 2012. Some will be small and some will be large, but most will take as their preaching theme: Gospel and the City.

It is a rich and provocative theme and sure to inspire wonderful preaching all over the country. Many of the most memorable texts in the Bible help elucidate this theme: Abraham leaving the city for an unknown destination; Jeremiah preaching in the city center and his walk around the walls of a dilapidated city; Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus in a near-by city and His direction the disciples to begin their witness in the city; John seeing a vision of a city descend from heaven.