Planners for the next Festival of Young Preachers are looking for 6 institutions that teach preaching to participate in a pilot project. The Festival is scheduled for January 6-8, 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky.

This year the festival drew more than 600 people including 92 young preachers from 41 institutions in 21 states. Next year we expect more young preachers, better preaching, and an explosion of inspiration.

The pilot project will involve schools that build the festival into a course. The festival can be either the culmination of a fall 2010 course, the launch of a 2011 course, or the central feature of a short-term January course.

Campbellsville University pioneered this idea for the inaugural festival this past January. Professor Scott Wiggington allowed his fall 2009 undergraduate students to preach in the festival as an extra-credit project. Five of his students did exactly that: Sean Stengl, Micah Spicer, Josh Hardesty, Andre Morton, and Willis Deitz.

We want to expand this idea to include at least 6 schools: bible colleges, liberal arts colleges, universities, and seminaries. Financial considerations are being developed to encourage schools to participate. Among those considering this opportunity are Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, Belmont University, Harvard Divinity School, and Morehouse College.

Schools who wish to participate will be given up to 6 reserved preaching slots at the 2011 festival. We expect registration for the next festival, January 6-8, 2011, to be completed much earlier than this first year, when we were accommodating young preachers through the end of December.

For more information, write the Executive Director, Dr. Dwight A. Moody, at dwightamoody@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call at 859-229-8642.