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The sun is shining in Louisville, Ky. at the headquarters of the Academy of Preachers. We are eager for Spring to arrive, and even more eager to share with you the latest news and happenings of the AoP.
The Importance of a Mentor
 This year after the National Festival, many of you approached us requesting, begging and emphasizing one thing: Mentors. You expressed the importance of mentors, the need for mentors, and the impact this kind of coach has on the life of a Young Preacher.
Still, many young people who attend our Festival events have never thought of having a mentor, or considered why they need one. And many are not sure how to secure one.
The Gospel Catalyst Network and several others see this topic as one of significant importance, and are sharing articles on mentoring with us on a weekly basis. For more information, click one of the articles below to read their thoughts on the topic of Mentoring:
The Gospel Catalysts will continue to share their thoughts on Mentoring over the next few weeks, so check out our website every Tuesday for more info. Have something you want to say about mentoring? Email us at info@academyofpreachers.net or share it with everyone on Facebook.
National Festival Registration, Coming April 1!
 We know many of you have made your plans and recruited friends and are eagerly waiting for the official registration for the 2013 National Festival to open. We had originally hoped to open registration up today, March 1, but we're taking another month to streamline the process...making it the easiest Festival registration to date.
In the meantime, stay plugged in with us on Twitter, be our "Fan" on Facebook, or view one of the dozens of Festival sermons now appearing on our YouTube channel.
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A Word from Dr. Moody
Why Preaching is Important
 This Sunday evening, I watched the Oscars. It is truly one of the spectacular cultural events of the year, right up there with the Super Bowl. I am glad The Artist won big, and I vowed again to watch Hugo.
Movies are big business. Last year theaters sold 1.25 billion tickets and took in $9.94 billion dollars. Click here to see the data.
These statistics mean that in an average week 24 million people bought a ticket to see a movie. I bought my share and so did my wife; she likes the movies and goes with or without me.
Twenty four million people is a lot of people; but it is a lot fewer than those who gather in houses of worship each week. It is estimated that about 25% of the American population attends church each week. Yes, some say it is as high as 40% and some say as low as 12%; check out this site to review the statistics. I use 25% as a conservative figure that fits within the estimates of some of the most skeptical researchers.
According to government figures released after the 2010 census, there were 308,745,538 people living in the United States on April 1, 2010. That means that 77,186,384 people, give or take a million, are in church on an average Sunday.
Almost all of these 77 million people heard a sermon or homily at church. Some sermons were long, up to an hour, and some were short, eight to ten minutes; but it is one piece of data that bolsters our claim that on any given week more people attend church than engage in any other public activity.
And when they attend church they hear a sermon; or I should say: when we attend church, we hear a sermon, as I did last Sunday.
The social and cultural impact of this weekly practice has not been sufficiently understood or appreciated; more research needs to be done of the influence on the sermon, the most wide-spread practice in American public life.
This is why preaching is important, why is it socially significant, why it deserves our attention, why it needs our support. We need more talented, better educated and trained, more spiritually qualified, more gospel-filled preachers in our churches. And that is the mission of the Academy of Preachers.
Dwight A. Moody, Gospel Catalyst
Founder & President
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Mark Your Calendars!
Mark your calendars for these 2012 events, brought to you by the Academy of Preachers and our partners. Interested in participating in a Festival mentioned here, or in hosting your own AoP-inspired event? Contact us at 502.245.9793 or email info@academyofpreachers.net for more information. Campus Festivals
April 3 & 5: Truett Seminary, Waco, Texas
April 10-20: Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, Florida
April 9-12: Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia
April 21: Kentucky Baptist Fellowship Festival of Young Preachers, Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky
June 22: General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Ft. Worth, Texas
June 30: John George Pfrimmer Festival of Young Preachers. Corydon, Indiana
October 1-2: Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama
October (Date TBA): Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky
November 6 & 8: George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Waco, Texas
Regional Festivals
September 28-29: Texas Festival of Young Preachers, Austin,Texas (Registration Opens April 1)
November 9-11: Midwest Festival of Young Preachers, University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana
National Festival
January 2-5, 2013: National Festival of Young Preachers, Atlanta, Georgia (Registration Coming April 1)
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