The two prime initiatives of the Academy are the preaching camp and the festival of young preachers. We thought we were the only ones out there doing this sort of thing; but maybe not.
Long-time friend Mike Diduit of Anderson University in South Carolina is hosting the second Boot Camp for Preachers. You can read all about it at www.preachingbootcamp.com. I am happy to give him this small endorsement because he published on his web page 18 months ago a news story about the launch of our Academy.
His camp, though, is different from ours in two respects. First, his boot camp does not target younger preachers, and second, his boot camp does not feature campers preaching. He has a list of well-known specialists and preachers who are coming in to speak and lead. Our camps, of course, register only young preachers, age 16-28 (with some flexibility on both ends), and the stackpole around which our camps are organized is the daily preaching by every camper. So there is a difference.
But in England, one denomination is doing something very much like our festival of young preachers. The United Reform Church of the United Kingdom is launching a Preacher of the Year competition for young preachers between the age of 18 and 30. You can read all about it on their web site.
Here again there is a big difference between their event and ours: no competition in our festival of young preachers. In the beginning, I wanted to pick out the best young preachers and recognize them, but the Young Preachers Leadership Team vetoed that. No competition, they said; and they were right. Our festival was so much the better without the competitive element; and next January, when 104 young preachers gather at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel and the Cathedral of the Assumption, they will come to “network, support, and inspire” one another in their common calling, not to defeat each other is some sort of context.
Even with that big difference, I applaud the focus on young preachers in England. I have written them and suggested we explore ways to collaborate in our common concern for the next generation of gospel preachers. I will keep you posted.
Let me know what you think: dwightamoody@gmail.com