Today we posted on the web site the first three of fifteen videos which record the testimonies given by members of the Young Preachers Leadership Team. The occasion was a retreat in January and the place was St. Matthews Baptist Church. The young people gathered on a Wednesday night for dinner and the program; during the program these young people stood one by one and spoke from their heart about their call to the ministry of preaching.
Caela Wood is one of the oldest on the Leadership Team; she is married, a minister at the First United Church of Bloomington, and a student at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. She holds the distinction of being the first person to register for the Festival of Young Preachers to be held next January in Louisville.
Another Young Preacher who has already registered is Jonathan Scott, a sophomore at Oakland City University, in Oakland City, Indiana, and a member of First Church of the Nazarene in that same town. Zachary Bailes is associate pastor at Lyndon Baptist Church in Louisville and a student at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary. Josh is also married and in January became a father, with the birth of his son August.
These video testimonies are not only your introduction to these Young Preachers; they were also the introductions of each of these students to one another, for these young people had not met prior to that evening in January. Following the Wednesday evening session at the St. Matthews Church, the Leadership Team traveled to the Country Lake Christian Retreat Center in Henryville, Indiana to plan the Festival scheduled for next January.
Over the next two weeks, we will posted, a few at a time, all fifteen of these recorded testimonies. At the same time we will continue to report on the progress of the Academy and will continue to publish blogs about the preaching vocation. Stay tuned!