Day of Preaching 2026: April 18, 2026 at Belmont University
We invite young preachers from the ages of 16-28 to Belmont University for a Day of Preaching on April 18, 2026! No experience required! This is your chance to preach in a supportive and encouraging environment with other young preachers. Join us for a great day of preaching!
The Academy of Preachers was founded in 2009 to identify, network, inspire, and support young people in their gospel preaching. Over ten years about a thousand young preachers gathered up their Bibles and preached their first sermons with others their age. Initially funded through a generous grant by the Lilly Endowment, the Academy of Preachers came to Belmont University in late 2019. COVID-19 challenged some of the transition efforts and leadership changes brought a pause to the work of the Academy of Preachers.
Our Day of Preaching on April 18, 2026 marks a rebooting of the Academy of Preachers. We are excited for the future and the opportunities it will provide young preachers.
Now funded by the Moench Center for Church Leadership at Belmont University, our Day of Preaching will include keynote speakers, breakout workshops, a panel discussion, and young preachers preaching and encouraging each other.
A small fee of $75 is required for registration by April 11 to cover morning snacks, a box lunch, and incidental expenses for the day. Registration will increase to $100 per person on April 12, 2026. Register today!
Please join us for our Day of Preaching!
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To Thine Own Self Be True: Preaching with Authenticity
One of Shakespeare’s most famous quotes comes from the character Polonius in Hamlet. He says “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” While I have never been a huge fan of this tragedy, I can say that these words constantly ring in my head every time I stand to preach the gospel of Christ.
More than 1300
There are fifty-two, sometimes fifty-three Sundays in a given calendar year. When I multiply the twenty-five years I have been alive by the approximately fifty-two sermons I listen to yearly, and adding any other conferences, camp meetings, sermons I view online, the result is more than 1300.
Since the age of ten I have collected sermon notes of every sermon I have listened to partially because I am a nerd and I know it helps me retain the material, but more importantly I knew from a young age that I would be preaching some day and I wanted to remember how others preached. Sure, I have hundreds and hundreds of church bulletins and programs with notes I could reference to recall my memory, but when I think about it, I can only remember three or four sermons.
It is not that I can recall the sermons in their entirety; I remember how they were presented, and how they impacted the preacher.
Aristotle, Beanie Babies, and Millennials
I have never been accused of being a faddish or trendy person. When I was in elementary school, my entire family made the mistake of jumping on the Beanie Baby bandwagon (I was convinced we’d be worth millions!). My bedroom shelves were crammed full of the things, and we ate about a billion McDonald’s kids meals to get the special promotion Teenie Beanie Babies (smaller=cuter, right?). Suffice it to say that I’ve learned about every lesson there is to learn about fads from my experiences with those little ear-tagged critters.
There is a connection, I think, between my family’s experiences with the marketing geniuses over at Ty, Inc. and the desire many preachers feel to “reach a new generation.” The connection is that both events are fads. In the 90s, Beanie Babies were all the rage. They flooded the market and spawned a host of imitations, but they ultimately left collectors with basements full of mostly worthless stuffed animals (the “super rare” Princess Diana tribute bear can now be had on eBay for a mere $30.00). In the same way, faddish preaching that only desires to “reach a new generation” is ultimately going to leave preachers with far too many social media accounts and a shelf full of dated books on “reaching generation [letter of your choice].”
Inspiring Young Preachers will change the future
It is hard to believe that just over a week has passed since the inaugural Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church (INUMC) Festival of Young Preachers. The lingering impact causes me to reflect on the experience and imagine the possibilities for the future.
Hearing eighteen young preachers, ages 14 – 26, from all over Indiana passionately preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ leads to long term inspiration. You will have the opportunity to view these young preachers in action on YouTube in the next few days. More than ever, this Festival has given me new hope in two very key areas.