FAQs

The Festival of Homiletics is a week-long conference designed to inspire discourse about preaching, worship, and society. Our mission is to provide the opportunity for theological reflection on the practices of preaching and worship, especially as congregations navigate being church in the 21st century. Pre-Covid, between 1,500 and 1,800 preachers, pastors, and lay people from all 50 states and 20+ countries attended the conference each year, around 50% being returning participants. In 2020, the virtual conference had over 15,000 participants, from over 50 countries representing 70 denominations! The 2023 Festival will be a hybrid event (online and in person), and in-person attendance will be capped at 1,200 participants. The Festival of Homiletics is a week of refreshment, renewal, and inspiration for all who attend.

Find information on refund and cancellations on the Festival Registration Policies page.

The 31th annual Festival of Homiletics will be presented in hybrid format. Join us in person in Minneapolis, MN or register for premium online access. We’ll also livestream the sessions from both venues the week of the festival. The livestream will not be rebroadcast.

We are monitoring Center for Disease Control and venue requirements for healthy gatherings, and anticipate that these will continue to change as the event date approaches. As of this time,  proof of vaccination and the wearing of masks inside of the festival venues will be optional for those who are attending the in-person event. See your final festival email which should arrive approximately two weeks prior to the event for final details.

There will be NO registration for single days for the 2023 Festival of Homiletics. Check on the registration form for all available options.

Seminarians can receive a 50% discount off of the registration fee for the in-person event, discount applied during registration process. Please use the Promo Code that is provided when you are filling out your registration.

There will be NO group registrations in 2023. During the registration process you will have to enter each person as a separate registration, each with their own email address. This allows us to create a unique registration for each person, and each registrant will receive an email with login information. You may register as many people as you wish, but you’ll need a valid email address for each registrant.

Live-streamed sessions will not be rebroadcast. Upgrade to the premium online package to gain access to bonus material and ability and recordings of all sessions. Please note that only the sermons from the full worship services will be included; musical events will not be included. Audio and Video Information

Recorded content from the premium online package may be shared with a small group (less than 25) in your congregation for educational purposes. Please note that the on-demand video content is only available by streaming. You will not be able to download it to another form, and it is only licensed through May 31, 2024. Downloading the MP3 files is allowed, but copying and sharing those files is not allowed. 

Attendance for the in-person conference has been adjusted for safety protocols and will be capped at 1,200 this year. (typically we host 1,500-1,800 preachers, pastors and lay people from all 50 states and 20+ countries). Our virtual conference had a reach of over 15,000 from over 50 countries representing over 70 denominations.

We sometimes have scholarship dollars collected during the registration period, however the amount is subject to change with each year. If you are seeking a scholarship please reach out to the event coordinator at festival@luthersem.edu to get your name added to the list of potential recipients. Should any become available it will be dispersed on a first come basis.

You are able to request a refund minus a $95 non-refundable processing fee or you can transfer your registration to another person. Just contact the event coordinator.

There is ample public parking around both of the venues in Minneapolis. The churches themselves do not have any public spots. Please feel free to use one of the parking apps to determine daily availability – Spot Hero, Park Whiz or Park Mobile.

We strive to accommodate all who wish to attend the Festival of Homiletics. Both of the venues in Minneapolis are ADA compliant and we will have hearing assistance devices as well. We plan to have closed captioning for all of the live streamed sessions on our digital platform. Should you have special needs or questions please reach out to the event coordinator. Look over our accessibility accommodations in greater detail here: Accessibility.

While we typically offer childcare, due to Covid-19, we have decided to suspend childcare offerings for the 2023 Festival. We hope to offer childcare again in the future.

Of course! As long as they register 🙂

Public Wi-Fi is not guaranteed at any of the venues.

At the in-person festival we work hard to be eco-friendly. See some of the steps we plan to take below…

• One of our sponsors, Thrivent Financial, has provided refillable insulated cups that can be used with hot or cold beverages, for your convenience at the past in-person event. Be sure to pick one up at their table when we meet together next year!
• All of the products used through the caterer are either reusable, recyclable or compostable. We have special receptacles to minimize the environmental impact.
• Worship bulletins are projected on screens and PDFs of the bulletins are available for download on your smart devices from a festival blog post the week before the event.

There is downtime between most of the sessions for you to take a break during all versions of the festival. Purchase the recording package if you wish to have the ability to go back and listen to any of sessions on your own time.

No, you are free to attend whichever sessions pique your interest in the moment!

The Festival of Homiletics does not organize service learning opportunities, but will share information about local opportunities that participants can take part in as we find out about them.

An offering is typically collected each year at an in-person. We allow the hosting venue a chance to pick a charity they support. However you can make a donation to the festival each year as use those charitable gifts for scholarships or to support an organization related to our theme.

There will be a Certificate of Completion showing the contact hours for the week available after the event that is emailed to all of the participants. Typically, one CEU is equivalent to ten contact hours.

Wear whatever you are comfortable in! Participants typically choose business casual during the week. Be sure to check the temperature for the location.

We are pleased to be working with Connections Housing once again for your hotel reservations. They compile a list of area hotels with courtesy blocks, or discounted rates. The hotels offer a variety of prices and amenities. Many of the hotels are within walking distance to the venues. More distant locations are along bus routes or Metro lines are often at a more deeply discounted rate. The rooms have been reserved at a special rate and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Book a hotel room here. 

After the allocated rooms have been filled, reservations may be made at the regular room rate if space is available. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the hotels available to participants, utilize all resources when looking for a hotel to fit your budget or expectations. Most CCVB’s have a full listing of all available hotels in the area – Meet Minneapolis. You can all use the many travel sites to look for the best option like Airbnb or Kayak.

Upon request, the Festival of Homiletics is happy to provide an invitation letter to accompany your visa application for the in-person event after full payment is received. Once you register and pay the full registration fee, contact Festival of Homiletics with your request promptly to allow time for processing. You will receive a PDF printable file on Festival of Homiletics letterhead via an email attachment. The Festival of Homiletics will not supply an invitation letter to unpaid or unregistered participants, and reserves the right to refuse to provide invitation letters for attendees. Please note that FoH does not give any further support to the visa application process. This invitation does not in any way financially commit the Festival of Homiletics for the expenses you incur for travel, lodging, and food to an in-person event. All conference participants are expected to take full financial responsibility for their stay in Atlanta. Obtaining a visa remains the sole responsibility of the participant. Regular cancellation deadlines apply, regardless of whether your visa was granted or not.

Please contact the Festival of Homiletics for assistance.