Stephanie Paulsell will be the preacher at the final public assembly of the inaugural Festival of Young Preachers. She will preach at noon on Saturday morning, January 9, 2009, in the sanctuary of St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Paulsell is Houghton Professor of the Practice of Ministry Studies at the Divinity School of Harvard University. She is an ordained minister of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ and hold degrees from Greensboro College (BA) and the University of Chicago (MA, PhD).

Paulsell joins two other nationally known preachers on the program of the Festival. Kyle Idleman of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville will preach at the opening worship service on Thursday evening, January 7. Brad Braxton, now of Chicago, Illinois, will preach on Friday evening, January 8.  All worship services are free and open to the public.

Besides the preaching, the worship services will include choral and congregational music, scripture and prayer, offering and testimony, and a visual collage of the events of the day at the festival. The final service, at noon on Saturday, will also feature the inaugural reading of a covenant of gospel preaching; this covenant is now being written and will be read at every festival of young preachers.

Two of the 90 young preachers now registered for the festival are students at Harvard Divinity School. Registration for the festival will be open until Thursday, October 14. Full information and registration forms are available at the link “Register for Festival” on the column to the right. There are a maximum of 104 slots available for young preachers, but a waiting list will be maintained. Call 859-229-8642 for information or with questions.