The Festival of Young Preachers, an event sponsored by the Academy and its two founding partners – the Lilly Endowment and St. Matthews Baptist Church of Louisville, KY – received its initial registrants early this week.
Special recognition goes to Micaela Wood of Bloomington, Indiana for being the first to enter. Caela is a member of the Academy’s Young Preachers Leadership Team. She is in her final year of study at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis and currently serves as the assistant pastor of First United Church of Bloomington (American Baptist and United Church of Christ). Caela’s mentor is the senior pastor of First United, Jack Skiles.
Early participants also include James Matthew Kinnard of Alexandria, Virginia, and Matthew Lloyd Kelley of Clarksville, Tennessee. James is attending Howard University in Washington, DC. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown, Kentucky, and his mentor is his pastor, Rev. Kevin Nelson Sr.
Matthew received his Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University in 2007. He is the pastor of Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Clarksville.
Congratulations to these young preachers! We look forward to hearing them and 97 others on January 7-9, 2010 at St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville.
For more information on how to sign up for the Festival, click the “Be a Preacher” menu item at the top of this website.