FTE’s Festival of Discernment
October 8 - October 11, 2025 • See FAQ for Price Atlanta, GAFTE’s Festival of Discernment is a four-day experience where ministry leaders will have unique opportunities to discern what’s next concerning God’s calling, their purpose, and the church’s future and work in the world.
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MINISTRY LEADER APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN
Discern a bold path forward.
All of us find ourselves at a pivotal moment in history, navigating profound transitions amidst social, political, and economic challenges. At times, the world feels broken and divided, and we are yearning for a sense of restored hope and renewed direction. Moments like this call us to dream, compel us to imagine, and invite us to discern the possibility of what’s next for us, our communities of faith, and for our small corner of hope in the world. Even in the face of growing uncertainty, discerning the possibility of what we imagine is impossible is the church’s strength and courage.
We celebrate this ancient, yet powerful practice called discernment. Amidst the challenges we face, faithful leaders continue to join together to discern a bold and faithful path forward. Our discernment leads to innovation and gives us a glimpse of what’s next and how the church will evolve, change and flourish in the days and years ahead. When we inspire the next generation to discern together, we build their capacity to reimagine what's possible in ministry and theological education, and we embolden them to lead innovatively in their local communities.
This year, FTE is hosting a national Festival of Discernment at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta, GA, in honor of the collective power of discerning together. Over four days, we are gathering artists and dreamers, pastors and priests, imagineers and fellow sojourners who accompany one another and others discerning a shared purpose and God’s call in their lives and what’s to come.
Come and join us if you have hope that our gifts are more than enough to discern a bold path forward and if you feel called to discern and live your life in response to a deep longing for what’s next.
Young Adult Cohort at The Festival of Discernment
FTE invites nominations and applications for young adults, ages 18-30, to participate in the Festival of Discernment this fall. Joining together with FTE ministry partners, participants in the Young Adult Cohort will be introduced to practices of discernment to explore God’s call in their lives, possibilities for what’s next for the church and its work in the broader community. Learn more about how you can attend as a young adult or nominate a young adult.
Participants Can Expect To
Deepen their capacity to discern together their purpose, passion and calling
Learn from and with FTE and its partners about discernment disciplines and practices in diverse contexts
Listen and engage in deep conversations for building a more hopeful future
Encounter the power of community, connect with a diverse group of peers, and engage in meaningful discussions that foster personal growth and clarity
Event Speakers
Dr. Daniel Black is an award-winning novelist, professor, activist, mentor and public speaker. He won the Distinguished Writer’s Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writer’s Association, and The Go On Girl! National Book Club named him “Author of the Year”. Black has been nominated (three times) for the Townsend Literary Prize, the Ernest J. Gaines Award, the Ferro-Grumbley Literary Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, the Georgia Author of the Year Prize, and the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award.
A native of Kansas City, Kansas, Black spent his formative years in rural Blackwell, Arkansas. He graduated from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) where he earned the prestigious Oxford Modern British Studies fellowship and studied abroad at Oxford University. He was then awarded a full fellowship to Temple University where he studied with Black Arts Movement poet laureate Sonia Sanchez and earned his Ph.D. in African American Studies. Black has spent the majority of his 30 academic years as a professor of African American Studies at his beloved alma mater, Clark Atlanta University.
Black lives in Atlanta and is the founder of the Ndugu-Nzinga Rites of Passage Nation, a mentoring society for people of African descent who seek to love themselves and build a world of character for their people.
Rev. Dr. Neichelle R. Guidry (she/her/hers) currently serves as the Dean of the Chapel and the Director of the WISDOM Center at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. A womanist homiletician and practitioner, she is the author of Curating a World: Sermonic Words from a Young Woman Who Preaches. She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University (BA) and Yale Divinity School (M.Div.), and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, where she completed her Doctor of Philosophy (Liturgical Studies, Homiletics concentration). For her service and dedication, she has been recognized by media outlets such as Time, Ebony, The New York Times, Vice, and more. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and their son.
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This event is for ministry leaders and young adults in the United States or Canada interested in exploring purpose, passion and call through discernment disciplines and practices. It is for those who want to network with a diverse, like-minded community grappling with similar issues in diverse contexts.
October 8-11 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta, GA.
Discernment: Participants will deepen their exploration of FTE’s discernment framework and practice of discernment with others regarding God’s call in their lives, possibilities for what’s next for the church and its work in the broader community.
Imagination: Participants will cultivate their vocational imagination and excitement for different ways to live out their sense of call, or accompaniment of the next generation of leaders in their discernment.
Community: Participants will make connections, nurture community, identify and share resources to support and advance their collective discernment efforts.
If selected to attend, FTE will cover the cost of your lodging, programming and food. You will pay a registration fee and the cost of your travel. While the total cost per person for this 4-day event is $2,200, the discounted registration fee of $500 will go toward the cost of lodging, programming, and food. The $500 fee will be due within 48 hours of application acceptance. Young adults and Discernment Lab partners do not have to pay the registration fee.
Lodging (single rooms for partners, shared rooms for young adults), all meals, snacks, and event materials are covered. Transportation to and from the event is only covered for young adult participants, all other participants need to get themselves to and from the event.
The cost of airfare and ground transportation is covered for Young Adults only. All other participants will need to arrange for and cover their own transportation costs.
The event begins with an opening session at 5 pm EST on Wednesday, October 8 and ends after lunch on Saturday, October 11, 2025.
Young Adults: Heather Wallace
All other inquiries: Marissa Akery