The Week of the Festival
Written by Dwight Moody
Monday, 04 January 2010 11:28
It is Monday morning. The inaugural Festival of Young Preachers is just three days away! Already spectacular signage, designed by our public relations partner Peritus, is in place in the atrium and vestibule of St. Matthews Baptist Church. On Wednesday afternoon, staff and volunteers will gather to set up for the Festival: tables, signs, displays, exhibits, and such. On Thursday morning, we will fill a hundred balloons with helium and further enrich the festive atmosphere of the place.
The Young Preachers Leadership Team will convene on Thursday morning and then at 11am everybody who has arrived–young preachers, mentors, volunteers, exhibitors, and guests–will gather in the chapel for a welcome, for orientation, and for singing together the hymn that has been composed for the occasion.
The preaching begins at 1pm.
Today we are working out video details, arranging for yet another exhibitor (Passport Camps), selecting hymns for the worship services, preparing the certificates of charter membership which will be given to 97 young preachers on Saturday morning, and attending to a hundred other details that will make this event such a memorable occasion.
And of course, making sure the snow plows are ready. There is a forecast of snow for Thursday and Friday! That will just add to the occasion!!
Today we pray for Neal Brooks, a young preacher from Kansas, and Aaron Flucke, a young preacher from Indiana, plus our Saturday plenary preacher, Dr. Stephanie Paulsell, from the faculty of Harvard University.
Most of the 96 young preachers scheduled for the inaugural Festival of Young Preachers have taken Jesus as their preaching theme; this is because they were directed to do so! The list of “Sermon Texts and Guidelines” (linked at the right) offer the young preachers 4 themes: the birth of Jesus, the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus.
The goal for this first festival was to keep the preaching at the center of the Christian tradition with as few temptations to delve into more controversial political and social issues. That may come next year, January 6-8, 2011, when the preaching theme is The Ten Commandments!
Even though the festival comes right on the heels of the Christmas holidays only 21 of the preachers choose the birth of Jesus as their preaching theme. Even fewer chose the death of Jesus: only 13; and barely more selected the resurrection of Jesus: 15 preachers.
By far the most popular theme for the festival is the life of Jesus. Almost half of the young preachers–41–have decided to preach about the life and ministry of Jesus.
Of course, these are intentions; I have frequently changed my preaching theme from the time the order of worship was printed on Friday to the time I stepped into the pulpit on Sunday; so if a young preacher stands to preach and announces a change of text I will not be perturbed. (Although I will be irritated if this change produces a sermonic product that is not well-thought and well-delivered!)
Nevertheless it will be most interesting to listen to these young adults preach. Invite your friends and family and congregation to the festival and judge for yourself what promise there is for outstanding proclamation of the gospel in the years ahead.