Not all cities are the same, even when it comes to the Academy of Preachers!!
My trip to Atlanta to promote the Academy (see the last three news stories below) gives me fresh perspective to reflect of the responses of the various cities where we have taken the Academy.
The Academy team consists of the Young Preachers Leadership Team, the Board of Advisors, various associates and consultants, and our growing list of Founding Partners; together we have taken the Academy to Atlanta, Cincinnati, Evansville, Indianapolis, Lexington, Louisville, Nashville, and Owensboro. What has been the response?
The least response has come from Cincinnati. We have no Partners there, no Advisors, and only one young preacher registered for the Festival, and he attends school in the Lexington area. The best response has come from Nashville, where we currently have four institutional partners (Trevecca, Vanderbilt, Fisk, and Belmont), two Advisors, and six registered young preachers.
But not even Nashville expressed the same level of enthusiasm as has Atlanta and I predict that by the end of September Atlanta will generate more Founding Partners and more young preachers for the Festival than Nashville. McAfee School of Theology is already a Partner and Dean Lawrence Carter of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Chapel of Morehouse College has agreed to join our Board of Advisors. When the month is over we could have six institutional partners and 20 young preachers in Atlanta!!
Lexington has been good to the Academy, in part because this is where I have centered my work. We have five Founding Partners in the area (Georgetown, Asbury, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, Lexington Theological Seminary, and Rosemont Church), four Advisors, and five young preachers registered for the Festival.
Louisville has been somewhat of a disappointment, even though it is the home base of the Academy. Besides three original Partners (Peritus, Oates Institute, and St Matthews Church) we have recruited only three new Partners: the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Foundation for Excellence in Giving, and the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship. And only four young preachers from Louisville have registered for the Festival. There are three members of the Board of Advisors.
Indianapolis has produced two Partners, one Advisor and two young preachers. Owensboro has offered only one young preacher and one Advisor and no Partners (yet). Evansville, if we include Oakland City, has no Partners, two short-term Advisors, but four young preachers registered.
With all of this information, here is the way I rank these communities: Nashville, Atlanta, Lexington, Louisville, Indianapolis, Evansville, Owensboro, and Cincinnati. But there is time to make a move and take the top spot in providing hospitality and resources for the young people who aspire to preach the gospel.