My ATL Festival of Young Preachers Experience: The Room Was Full. And So Was I.

A few months back, I saw a flyer pop up on social media. ATL Festival of Young Preachers. And I immediately thought, what is this? I want in.

So I did what I do. I slid into the page's inbox, introduced myself, and pitched an idea. Young preachers need media training. They need to know how to respond to culture, how to protect their platforms, how to show up in a world that is constantly watching. Let me come and offer something.

The person on the other side of that message was Reverend Joseph Howard Sr. We got on a Zoom call, and from the moment we jumped on, it was clear. The synergy was immediate. Reverend Howard is passionate and funny and deeply committed to one thing: making sure young preachers between the ages of sixteen and thirty are not overlooked, not lost in the sauce of all the noise in the church world. He wanted to give them a space to connect, learn, grow, and actually stand up and preach, be evaluated, and be poured into.

He told me the next event would be in October and invited me to come through today as a guest. And so I did.

What I Walked Into

I did not catch the first part of the day. I came in after lunch. But what I walked into in that second half was something I did not expect to feel as deeply as I did.

I heard four young preachers deliver their sermons. And when I tell you there was no rookie energy in that room, I mean it. These were not kids nervously reading from notes. These were voices. These were words from God coming through vessels who clearly knew who they were called to be. And I felt it in my belly. That burning excitement for somebody else's gift that only happens when you are in the presence of something real.

I was just so excited for them. To hear voices I had never heard before. To see their zeal, their passion, the way they carried what God had given them. And sitting there, watching them, something settled in me too. Like, you are in the right place. This is exactly where you are supposed to be today.

Why I Fight It and Why I Finally Stopped

I want to be honest about something.

I have known there was a call on my life for a long time. People who know me would say I have always been a preacher, even when I was just calling myself a speaker or a teacher. But for years I fought it. Not because I did not believe God. But because I had watched what ministry did to people. I had seen the unhappiness. The scandals. The burden of it. And I made a decision in my own mind that I did not want to sign up for that.

But eventually, I ran out of valid reasons to keep resisting. What I was doing was not caution. It was disobedience. It was selfishness. And I got tired of operating that way.

What changed was simple. I stopped fighting what was inevitable. I got around people in ministry who are actually building something healthy. I got a pastor and staff who are genuinely supportive. I started seeing a version of ministry that looked like what God actually intended, and I realized that what I had been afraid of was never the call itself. It was the counterfeit version of it that I had been watching from a distance.

So now I am cultivating that side of myself. Studying. Letting the Holy Spirit give me what to say when I go before God's people. Building SAVEDpreneur™ as the media ministry it is. And showing up in rooms like the one I was in today, not just to observe, but because I belong there.

Three Things This Day Reminded Me

First, the next generation of preachers and ministers wants mentorship. They need it.

The young people in that room were not looking for applause. They were looking for guidance. For someone older who would take their call seriously and pour into them instead of overlooking them or stifling their gifts. There is a scripture that speaks to this idea that the older generation carries wisdom and the younger generation carries strength. Both are needed. But they only work together when the older generation actually shows up for the younger one.

If you have been in ministry, in the marketplace, in faith-driven leadership for any amount of time, your presence in rooms like this one is not optional. It is a responsibility.

Second, there has to be a space for women in these rooms.

One of the moments that impressed me most today was at the end of the conference. The host's wife, Reverend Bianca Howard, called up every woman and girl who had preached that day. They recognized first-time preachers. They called the women forward and covered them in prayer. And she invited those of us who had been in ministry longer to stand with them and pray over them.

I want to say clearly: women preach. Women are called. And the traditional argument that tries to silence women in ministry based on one letter from Paul was never God's design. Women need spaces to be developed, covered, and sent. Not dismissed. What Reverend Bianca Howard did in that moment was simple, but it mattered deeply. Because it is a different journey for women in ministry. And that journey requires intentional support from those who have walked it.

Third, we need to come together more. Across denominations. Across races. Across generations.

That room had all of it. Different denominations. Different backgrounds. Different ages. And it worked. It was beautiful. Because when the focus is on Jesus and on developing the next generation of voices for the Kingdom, the things that usually divide us become irrelevant.

The next event is in October. And my prayer is that everyone who made a connection today nurtures it. Because the threefold cord is not quickly broken. And we are better together.

The Moment That Felt Personal

When I walked out of one of the rooms, I ran right into Brijanae Law Davis.

Brejanae and I go back. Back in 2015, we were in a ministers in training course together at the church we were both attending. That course started and stopped. It never finished. And life moved on.

But there she was. Someone had signed her up for the festival and she had delivered her sermon that morning. First time. And she was glowing.

What hit me was this: we both said it. We both have PTSD from church, from ministry, for multiple reasons that people who have been in it long enough will understand. We have both had seasons of stepping back, of questioning, of recovering. And here we both were, still emerging. At the same time. In the same space.

I love talking to people who knew me before I became this public version of myself. People who know the full story, not just the highlight reel. There is something about that kind of connection that carries a different weight. A different appreciation. Brejanae is one of those people. And seeing her standing in her gift, on her own terms, in God's timing, was one of the most encouraging things that happened to me today.

Not because our path was perfect. But because God kept His promise anyway.

If you are in Atlanta or the surrounding area, keep your eyes open for the next ATL Festival of Young Preachers in October. Show up. Support. Bring somebody with you. These are the voices that are going to carry the Kingdom forward, and they need to know that the generation ahead of them is not too busy to show up for them.

I will be there.

Watch Rev. Howard deliver the occasion HERE.

Maleeka Hollaway is the founder of SAVEDpreneur Media and Lead and Influence. She is an emerging minister, speaker, and faith-driven entrepreneur building at the intersection of faith, business, and real life. Follow her at SAVEDpreneur.com.