The fall preaching festival is an annual event here at Asbury University and was first developed by Dr. Chris Bounds in the Christian Studies & Philosophy department. Dr. Suzanne Nicholson took over three years ago, because she did not want this amazing event to go away.
“This is an opportunity for students of any experience level to preach a 7-10 minute sermon on an assigned theme,” said Nicholson. “We want to give students experience preaching in a friendly environment.”
Asbury University is a place that students can open up on strong topics that they believe in and are able to share with the university as a whole on the topic.
“The students will preach in front of a panel of experts who will give them encouraging feedback after their sermons,” said Nicholson. “This year’s theme is “Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness”; it comes from Psalm 96:9.”
The night began with a preaching worship, led by Rev. Dr. Jonathon Powers. Dr. Powers is the assistant professor of worship studies and associate dean of the mission and ministry at Asbury University.
The title of his presentation is, “Beatific Proclamation: Preaching as an Act of Love.” In addition to Dr. Powers, the festival had three other judges who were experienced preachers for the talkback afterwards.
“The guest speaker provides a preaching workshop to us students, and this includes both spectators and student preachers, where they provide useful tips when it comes to both crafting and preaching a message,” said AU Student, Grace Goddard.
Following the workshop, students were to give their messages. There were different locations for the student speakers, so their space was more “intimate” when they went to give their messages.
The students would afterwards find out how they did according to the judges’ viewpoints.
“The judges were pastors and reverends and others who have had great experience within the Christian sphere,” said Goddard.
Spectators were also encouraged to give their feedback on how the individual students did preaching their messages, and some criticism on how to improve in the future.
