In the last few days we have reached several important thresholds.
First, we now have more than 700 FANS on our Facebook site, 708 to be exact (as of this very minute: 3:35pm EST Wednesday afternoon).
Not that this means a great deal: it takes only a click of the mouse on our Academy of Preachers Facebook site: it requires no commitment only a certainly level of interest or curiosity.
Second, we now have 50 young preachers registered for the Festival of Young Preachers in Louisville, Kentucky on January 7-9, 2009. Number 50 is Lonnie Winston, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and an entering student at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. He is associate pastor at the Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Brownsville, Kentucky, a small community near Bowling Green. He also teaches in the Edmonson County School District. We welcome Lonnie and look forward to 50 more young preachers in the next 8 days. (Oh, my: can that really happen? 50 young preachers in 8 days?)
Every little bit of publicity helps. Lonnie learned of the Festival through our ad in The American Baptist, a weekly newspaper of the Baptist Association of Kentucky. Perhaps somebody will read the new article in the Kentucky Christian. This is a new magazine and the fall 2009 is, I think, only the second issue. Along with articles about Thomas Merton and Jeff Shepherd, there is a wonderful piece about the Festival, written by young preacher #36 on our list of Festival registrants: Mary Alice Birdwhistell, now a first-year student at Truett Seminary in Texas, but formerly a student at Georgetown College. (I couldn’t locate a web site for the magazine so I can’t link this report to that article.)
Next weekend, the Young Preachers Leadership Team is coming to Louisville for a fall retreat, to be joined on Saturday morning by the Board of Advisors. We will be creating 8 Preaching Circles of the 100 young preachers and making final plans for the Festival. Things are starting to pick up steam!! Hold on!!!