Festival of Young Preachers Festival of Young Preachers Festival of Young Preachers
The second national festival of young preachers will convene Thursday morning, J January 6, 2011 and conclude on Saturday, January 8, 2011. At this time, preaching slots are available for 104 young preachers.
Registration forms will soon be available and participation in the festival will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Much of the festival will operate as the inaugural festival this past January: young preachers divided into 8 preaching circles, 4 preaching venues in use simultaneously, plenary sessions for inspiration and recognition, gift bags for all young preachers and, of course, splendid fellowship, wonderful preaching, and unparalleled inspiration.
But some things will be different. Most of the festival will be held in a downtown Louisville hotel (to be announced next week); this will facilitate both the social and spiritual side of the festival. Plenary sessions will be held a half block away in the Cathedral of the Assumption.
Nothing will be scheduled while the young preachers are preaching, so as to allow everyone to hear as many other young preachers as possible. Three outstanding preachers from this first year will be invited back next year to preach for the entire assembly; names will be announced soon.
In addition to video recording all sermons (and posting them on You Tube), the entire festival will be streamed live on the World Wide Web. Of course, DVDs of each and every sermon will be available for purchase during the festival itself.
As many as 10 schools around the country are hosting, in conjunction with the Academy, campus festivals. These events allow schools to invite their students, their alums, and their potential students to participate in a festival, with the school providing scholarships to the top preachers to attend the national festival in Louisville.
In addition, 6 other schools will be offering preaching courses centered on the festival of young preachers. With course work either before or after the festival, all enrolled students will attend the festival and preach.
Even with these improvements, the festival of young preachers will remain a very simple event: young people called by God to preach the gospel of Jesus, gathering from all corners of the nation, to preach, to listen, to pray, to share, to learn, to grow, to inspire and to be inspired. There is nothing like it anywhere…..and it is open to any young preacher, ages 16-28, who has a sponsoring congregation and a preaching coach.