Welcome to the Festival of Preaching
The Festival of Preaching aims to inspire, nurture and celebrate all who are called to proclaim the gospel today.
Featuring outstanding speakers, it offers a stimulating and varied programme of worship, lectures and workshops.
Thank you
Thank you to our wonderful organising teams at Great St Mary’s (Jutta, Marianne, and Richard plus volunteers), St John’s College staff, Andrew Earis, Tom Perkins, sponsors, supporters, caterers, technicians, volunteers, and our fantastic speakers – and of course you, for buying tickets, attending, and supporting the event.
We hope to return in 2026. Make sure you are on our Festival mailing list for updates.
The Festival of Preaching | 15 - 17 September 2024.
A message from the organisers:
A very warm welcome to the 2024 Festival of Preaching. After two excellent, over-subscribed events in 2017 and 2019 in Oxford, we are ready to welcome you to Cambridge in 2024.
We aim to provide all that you enjoyed at the previous events plus more!
You can look forward to:
- A carefully crafted programme which aims to refresh, inspire and encourage all who preach
- A mix of curated lectures, seminars and workshops led by some of today’s outstanding preachers
- Beautiful and thoughtful worship, music and liturgies
- Outstanding hospitality, accommodation, and buildings – in the heart of one of the UK’s most beautiful cities
The Festival of Preaching 2024 will allow preachers from all over the UK and beyond, from a diversity of church denominations and traditions, to gather together, in glorious surroundings, to discuss, pray, worship, listen and learn from each other – and the guest speakers. You are sure to go back to your home parish refreshed and encouraged in your preaching ministry.
New for 2024:
Cambridge allows us to add capacity to the event – plus we have added:
- A preaching clinic – bring your questions or worries along and get direct replies from our panellists – chaired by Paula Gooder
- Closing Festival Eucharist – with guest preacher Barbara Brown Taylor
- Jazz vespers - with local musicians
Speakers for 2024:
Malcolm Guite, Paula Gooder, Amy-Jill Levine, Sam Wells, Guli Francis-Dehqani, Mark Oakley, Martyn Percy, Barbara Brown Taylor, Victoria Johnson, Ally Barrett, Isabelle Hamley, Stephen Cherry, Chris Russell and Doug Gay.
Telephone sales
If you would like to, you can purchase tickets for the Festival of Preaching on this number: 01603 785925
A postage and packaging fee of £2.50 will apply.
We hope you will join us in Cambridge!
Preparatory Questionnaire for delegates
If you have not already done so, please help festival staff to prepare by filling out our preparatory questionnaire.
A message to the festival from Walter Brueggemann
"We preachers have an opportunity to declare that there is another narrative out of which we can live our lives. It is a narrative of generosity, and freedom, and forgiveness, and hospitality, and justice. It is the narrative of the future, and I am very glad that we share it."