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Featured Preacher:
Gabreil T. Alemayehu
Gabreil attended the 2011 Festival this year, preaching a thoughtful sermon on Sabbath entitled, "Got Rest?" Gabreil is 19, a student at Hellenic College, and his home church is in Seattle, WA - Saint Gabreil Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral. Ordained in the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, Gabreil has preached to "four people and in front of thousands of people." He currently, as a college student, serves two churches as a full-time minister and preaches in both English and Amharic every week! Quite the call!
Both the Academy's focus on gospel preaching and our ecumenical nature draws Gabreil to be involved. Gabreil writes, "Today, before anything else, what the world needs is the Word of God" and with the Academy's vision, that Word is being shared. He also believes, "This interaction among preachers regarding the different traditions of 'gospel preaching,' will lead to great ecumenical movements." We hope and pray the same thing.
The network of Young Preachers born out of the Festival and other Academy programs is also important to Gabreil.He notes how when Young Preachers are connected, they can meet one another, strengthen and encourage one another in ministry, and share experiences of life in the church universe. We, too, see this as one of the greatest gifts of the Academy's growing family. Thank you, Gabreil, for participating in the Festival, and welcome to the 2011 YPLT!
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Greetings!
Hello from the Academy of Preachers and welcome to the March 2011 Edition of the iPreach newsletter.
Three Preaching Camps are now in the works for Young Preachers...and two are already filled. The open camp is June 5-10, at the Thompson Community Center, Johnson City, Tenn. The Camp Director is Rev. Rich Voelz, soon to graduate from Vanderbilt with his PhD in Homiletics and Liturgics. Rich has been involved with the Academy of Preachers for two years and served as Camp Director at the Preaching Camp last summer. The cost is $500 per Young Preacher, with a $100 deposit due at the time of registration. Only 12 Young Preachers will be accepted into the camp, so act quickly. Register on the website of the Academy of Preachers. The two full camps are scheduled for Kentucky in July and Georgia in August. |
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Academy Welcomes Three Additions to 2011 YPLT
The Academy of Preachers is pleased to announce three new additions to the 2011 Young Preachers Leadership Team (YPLT). They are Gabreil Alemayehu (19), Dominique Robinson (26), and Laura Gerstl (25).
Gabreil (see his profile at left) hails from Seattle and is in his final year of study at Hellenic College in Brookline, Massachusetts. He attended the 2011 National Festival of Young Preachers earlier this year and was impressed with the diverse, ecumenical nature of the event. As a deacon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Gabreil is eager to share his unique faith tradition and his considerable gifts with the YPLT.
 Dominique is a graduate student at the Candler School of Theology (Emory University) in Atlanta. She is impressed by the ways in which the YPLT weds academia and ministry for a "new generation" of preachers. A minister in the A.M.E. Zion Church, Dominique hopes that her participation on the team leads to more personal confidence in the pulpit and a greater understanding of different beliefs, theologies, and practices.
 Laura is a student at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. She brings to the YPLT a considerable amount of experience in multi-cultural and cross-cultural ministries in her native Wisconsin. As a participant in this year's Festival, Laura was encouraged and strengthened by the opportunity to gather with and learn from colleagues from all corners of Christ's church, and she looks forward to developing her preaching and leadership skills as a member of the 2011 team.
In addition to these three, the Academy hopes to add a fourth person, a high-school student, to round out this year's team. Thanks to all who applied for the 2011 YPLT and congratulations to Gabreil, Dominique, and Laura!
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A Word from Dr. Moody
There is a difference between parish preaching and public preaching.
Parish preaching dominates the Christian world these days: a preacher addresses the same gathering of people in the same place week after week. Most books on homiletics are designed for this sort of preaching. I spent 20 years as a parish preacher.
When we examine the Bible for examples of this sort of preaching, we come up empty. Well, not quite: there is the story (in Acts 20) of Paul preaching past midnight to the congregation in Ephesus; Eutychus fell asleep, tumbled out the window, and had to be resuscitated by the preacher. Not the most winsome paradigm for preaching!
More dominant is the pattern of public preaching, as when Paul was driven from the synagogue in Corinth and took to preaching in the Hall of Tyrannus (Acts 19). This mimicked the ministry of Jesus, who spoke in public. Much of the apostolic preaching was outside the confines of religious authority and institutions.
And in turn, this practice of public preaching followed the pattern of the Hebrew prophets, who often were excluded from the precincts of religion (Jeremiah and Amos, for example) and were forced to establish their verbal footing elsewhere.
Christian preachers have also imitated this style of preaching, finding a public square and there taking a stand to address the people. Take St. Francis and Billy Graham as examples. In our day, cyber sermons, street preaching, and stadium events are just a few of the ways gospel preachers have taken the Good Word to the people.
Steeple preaching (as we may call parish preaching) may keep us not only from reading Scripture right but also from obeying our call right. All of us who testify to a call to preach need to take seriously the opportunities and risks of public preaching.
-Dwight A. Moody, Founder & President
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"The Academy of Preachers is a national, ecumenical initiative launched through a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment of Indianapolis and enlarged through the gifts of individuals and organizations. The Academy is energized by the conviction that gospel preaching is a vocation of public and social significance, a calling worthy of the very best and brightest of our young people."
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