I find that there are a few things in life that paradoxically both encourage and terrify me. Knowing how much pizza I can eat in one sitting gives me a childish pride, but it also makes me anxious about stepping on the scale. Knowing that my wife loves me fills me with confidence, but it…
Anxious. Elated. Hesitant. Eager. Preaching can be a wild mix of conflicting emotions as one prepares and delivers a sermon. My sophomore-in-college-self was rarely the timid, reserved person I remember being at my first National Festival of Young Preachers in 2012. Admittedly, the more preaching I watched during the Festival, the more nervous I became…
Over 1,000 Young Preachers have attended the National Festival of Young Preachers since the first Festival in 2010. Over 1,000 students, ministers, and others inspired to preach could tell you their story of how they came to their first Festival. For some, it was through a school. For others, a mentor or a friend encouraged…
At the 2018 National Festival of Young Preachers, Rev. Melanie Jones, one of the many experts in their fields who preach and teach at the National Festival, presented a Master Class titled Womanist Preaching in a Millenial Age. She discussed what Womanist Theology is, the challenges of preaching to millennials, and how Womanist preaching connects with…
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a Pentecostal, an Eastern-Orthodox seminary student, and a Catholic Friar walk into a bar… At the 2015 National Festival of Young Preachers, I met two people who would end up defining my Festival experience. The first was Tristan Gall. He was in his last year of seminary and…
Our mentors shape our ideas about what mentoring should look like. Darlene Hutto, AoP Board member and Director of Strategic Partnerships for Leadership Networks for the Forum for Theological Exploration, led a Master Class on Mentoring from the Mentee’s perspective at the 2018 National Festival of Young Preachers (Register now for the 2019 Festival!). She led a…
Last year I moved to South Texas from Kentucky. It’s been an adventure, particularly living within 2.5 hours of the border with Mexico. As a bit of a political nerd, I always paid attention to issues like immigration, but they’ve taken on a whole new meaning now that I am in the minority in our…
The 2018 National Festival of Young Preachers featured many dynamic masterclasses led by experts and practitioners in a variety of fields related to preaching and Christian ministry. Dr. Everett McCorvey—AoP National Festival Music Director, Director of the American Spiritual Ensemble, University of Kentucky professor and world-renown expert in sacred and operatic music—presented a masterclass in…
Preaching is taking people on a journey. It is used to move them forward in their discipleship journey. Preaching is the “foolishness” that “pleases God,” so that those that believe might be saved. It is the process of taking the “living word of God” and presenting it to people who need its power to overcome the…
By Dominique A. Robinson When it comes to social media, it seems as though videography and live recording have washed imagery and wording right out. People no longer want to read long posts and they do not want to stare at a still shot. They want to see it all in motion – and feel…