We Have Not Lost Each Other: Closing Worship with Amy Butler

Amy Butler

Drawn into worship with yearning for God’s continued presence in hearts and lives, Brad Froslee called Festival participants into their last service together at #Homiletics2019 with centering prayer and song repeating the refrain; Oh God, we call, from deep inside we yearn for you. Moving into a prayer of Remembrance for Rachel Held Evans, beloved author […]

Anna Carter Florence, Ready to Climb

Rev. Dr. Anna Carter Florence

On Thursday, surrounded by eager listeners in the Westminster sanctuary, Rev. Dr. Anna Carter Florence returned to her roots. This was the church where she was first ordained, where she preached in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre, where she navigated despair from presiding over yet another lonely funeral of man who died in […]

Will Willimon Points Out Some Pitfalls

Rev. Will Willimon

In Rev. Will Willimon’s estimation, self-righteousness is a major pitfall to preachers’ efforts to be prophetic. When religious leaders internalize expectations of saintly perfection, we can be too afraid of saying the wrong thing to risk saying anything meaningful at all. When the idea of “prophets” gets confused with “fortune-tellers,” we feel pressured to speak from a place of all-knowing […]

Workshop Handouts: Barber, Ciavarri, Lundblad

William Barber II

2019 Festival of Homiletics handouts include:  William Barber II: Call to action and letter introducing Moral Witness Wednesday, June 12, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Sarah Ciavarri: The Heart of Daring Leadership Barbara Lundblad: Taking Resistance Seriously, and Moving Through It Each of these handouts is also posted on the Festival app under Maps & Docs

The Holy Spirit: Source of Moral Imagination

William H. Lamar IV

Brought back to the present with beautiful music from Peter Mayer in the midst of a busy week, workshop participants were centered for the start of William H. Lamar IV’s workshop, “The Holy Spirit: Source of Moral Imagination.” Lamar IV made clear from the very beginning, “For me, there is no imagination without the Spirit.”  […]

Otis Moss III Delivers the Spice of Love

Rev. Otis Moss III

Getting into the game, Rev. Otis Moss III opened his first sermon with a sports analogy, explaining how following sermons from James Forbes Jr. and William Barber II made him feel like James Jones, NBA player and three-time champion. Never heard of him? Rev. Moss joked that James Jones got all his championship rings from […]

Tuesday Social Media Highlights from #Homiletics2019

What a powerful second day of #Homiletics2019! Blessed with beautiful weather, the participants of Festival of Homiletics 2019 were energized with spirited preaching from Rev. Dr. Barber, uplifted with music from the Fleshpots of Egypt during Rolf Jacobson’s workshop, Laughed and learned with Barbara Lundblad, were challenged to reimagine liturgy by Cláudio Carvalhaes, sang with the Fleshpots […]

Highlights from Opening Night at #Homiletics2019

Central Lutheran Church sanctuary

Hundreds gathered for worship in Central Lutheran Church’s beautiful sanctuary as Karoline Lewis introduced this year’s theme, inspired by Frank A. Thomas’ book How to Preach a Dangerous Sermon. Instead of playing it safe in the pulpit, what does it mean to be a voice for moral imagination in our world right now?  Attendees were welcomed into worship, […]

Worship bulletins for 2019 Festival

Festival of Homiletics program cover

In an effort to reduce paper waste, there are not print versions of the worship bulletins at the 2019 Festival of Homiletics. All bulletin materials will be projected on screens in the worship areas, available to view on mobile devices via the Festival App, and accessible below for advance printing. You can access all PDF bulletins […]

Vendor Spotlight

vendors

We welcome the following sponsors and vendors to the 2019 Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis! Be sure to check out their products. Vendor Hours: Tuesday, May 14 7:30 a.m – Friday, May 17 noon Westminster Presbyterian Church The Sponsors are located in the first floor lobby of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Cokesbury Bookstore will be located […]

Morning Coffee Break Sponsors

coffee

Many thanks to our Morning Break Coffee and Snacks Sponsors for #Homiletics2019! Educational Opportunities Tours Since 1974, Educational Opportunities has been dedicated to providing quality Christian travel programs at an affordable price. Over the years, more than 400,000 Christians have traveled on the various faith-based tours. From its inception, EO incorporated elements of Christian learning […]