It is Sunday morning as I write, and four weeks from today the Festival of Young Preachers will be over! But until then we continue to make progress; and we continue to pray.
Today on our prayer list are three names. Nicholas Richards registered to preach and was at one time scheduled to preach; but last week he expressed hesitation, and he was moved to the waiting list. But Saturday one of our leaders, Tanner White, called to say his two-term overseas study at Christ Church College, Oxford University requires him to be in Oxford on January 7, the opening day of our Festival. So let us pray that Nicholas Richards (now on the ministry staff of Abyssinian Baptist Church of New York City) will renew his determination to come to Louisville to preach.
The Prayer Calendar also calls upon to pray for Thomas Gricoski–or Brother Thomas, as he generally names himself. He is a monk of the Benedictine Order, living in community at the St. Meinrad Archabbey. He has been ordained a deacon but when he graduates from St. Meinrad Seminary he plans to travel to Europe to complete work on a PhD in philosophy. But while he is here is a member of the Young Preachers Leadership Team and is scheduled to preach at 3pm on Thursday afternoon, January 7.
Let us also pray, as the calendar suggests, for Susan Boyer. She is an administrative assistant on the staff of St. Matthews Baptist Church. But she also works as secretary for the Academy of Preachers, and in this capacity has been terrific. As the Festival nears, coming hard on the heels of the holidays, Susan will have much to do; and we pray for her.
We are making final corrections to the 74-page Festival program; working through the details of 3 public worship services, recruiting volunteers to help with transportation, greeting, housing, and a bunch of other things; and attempting to anticipate problems and crises that might arise before or during the festival. Pray for us all.
Finally, we welcome our newest Founding Partner: Middletown Christian Church, Middletown, Kentucky. That makes 40 toward our goal of 50 (by the first of March, 2010). This week the board of directors of the Boston Theological Institute (representing the 9 seminaries in the great Boston area) are voting on becoming a Founding Partner. The good news of young preachers has spread far and wide!!