Dwight A. Moody
Earth Day is coming up–Wednesday, April 23–and the Academy of Preachers is celebrating in a unique way.
AoP is hosting a two-hour launch of our 2015-2016 Festival preaching theme: HEAVEN & EARTH.
The theme will guide the preaching at all seven of the 2015 Festivals of Young Preachers: Wisconsin, Texas (2), Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Kansas (2) as well as the 2016 National Festival next January. Young Preachers are given 20 biblical texts, arranged in four groups: Creating Heaven & Earth, Receiving Heaven & Earth, Surviving Heaven & Earth, and Redeeming Heaven & Earth. The complete list of texts is found elsewhere on this web site.
The Earth Day launch includes a complimentary breakfast at the Lexington Hilton followed by a 50-minute presentation of the 2016 National Festival plans.
These plans include:
- Saturday afternoon Teen Fest
- Sunday morning Pulpit Preaching
- Master Classes
- First Parish Preachers track
- ASE-led Lexington Gospel Choir
- PREACHAPALOOZA, and of course,
- 150 Young Preachers!!
Attending are local pastors (focused on downtown Lexington), regional institutional leaders, donors, Young Preachers, musicians, and our AoP team.
One purpose of the event is to describe the different ways that organizations and institutions can invest in the AoP mission, like sponsoring Master Classes, plenary worship, preaching venues, sermon videos, and such. Another purpose is to inspire local pastors to invite an AoP Young Preacher to fill their Sunday morning pulpit on January 3, 2016. (We plan to send all festival participants–more than 200–to local churches that Sunday morning.)
But the overriding intent of our Earth Day launch of the 2016 Festival is to generate enthusiasm for the National Festival and describe ways the Festival can help congregations, denominations, and institutions fulfill their own mission.
Our mission is to “identify, network, support, and inspire young people in the call to gospel preaching.” But along the way, old preachers like me (and perhaps you) will find our hearts “strangely warmed” by the substance and spirit of the gospel preaching we hear from these young people.
Put it on your calendar: January 2-5, 2016. Lexington, Kentucky. Heaven & Earth.