Welcome to Higher Things!

Last week, during the Amen - Irvine conference, the Higher Things Board of Directors and Executives met for our annual Summit meeting.  One of the most important orders of business for this annual meeting are our elections.  The HT Board of Directors is comprised of 9 members.  Directors serve three-year terms, and three director seats are up for election each year. 

Trinity Season Reflections (Part 3) are now available. The work of the Holy Spirit continues in the readings for the Trinitytide season. Pastors Mark Buetow and Steven Mac Dougal (Red Bud, IL) bring the word of Christ achieving and delivering salvation to our ears. These Reflections cover the time from July 18 through August 16. You may download a copy in printable booklet form here.

The Guadalupe Retreat is an opportunity for the college-aged HTers to gather for a little worship, work, and play before heading back to school. Large sized flyers are available via e-mail; please feel free to print them and hand them out, hang them up, invite your friends to come hear the word. Open to high school grads and up. More information will be provided as it becomes available. In the meantime, feel free to email me at estephens@higherthings.org and I will try to find answers for you.

Group Registration Forms
Individual Registration Forms

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make Amen -Scranton and Amen-St. Louis two great conferences.  The kids were great; the college volunteers were terrific; the speakers and presenters were amazing; the staff was awesome; the worship was divine.  Now on to Concordia University-Irvine, our first ever conference on a Concordia campus.  Amen, Amen, and Amen!

At Amen-St. Louis, several people came up to me and asked if Pres. Kieschnick had been invited to greet us, since we were in the Synod’s own backyard.  As a matter of fact, back in May I did invite Pres. Kieschnick to bring his personal greetings to our conference, but sadly his calendar did not permit it.   He did write us this nice letter which unfortunately didn’t make it into our conference booklet.  I wanted to share it with you here.

May 19, 2008

Dear Pastor Cwirla, Brother William,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

As you prepare for the Higher Things conference in July, 2008, I would like to take this time to express to you how important your work is in spreading the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world.

Although I am both honored and grateful for your kind invitation to be a guest and share in fellowship at this momentous occasion, at this time I must respectfully and regretfully decline, due to a prior commitment.  Please be assured that all of those gathered will be in my special thoughts and prayers.

May God's grace, power and peace be with you.

Warmly and sincerely, in Christian love,

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, President
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

It has come to our attention that potentially misleading information has been circulating regarding Mr. Dan Woodring's departure from Lutheranism and his associations with Higher Things. To set the public record straight, we are publishing this brief account of Mr. Woodring's involvement with Higher Things.

Dan Woodring was one of the founders of Higher Things and served as its first president from 2001 to 2002, at which time he was succeeded by Pr. Klemet Preus, who served as president of Higher Thing until April, 2008. Mr. Woodring held the position of Executive Director from 2002 until 2005. He has had no subsequent involvement with Higher Things.

Higher Things remains committed to confessional Lutheran orthodoxy and liturgical worship in the Lutheran hymnal tradition. As a grassroots youth organization composed of LCMS pastors, teachers, and laity, our mission is to assist parents, congregations, and pastors in cultivating and promoting a Lutheran identity among youth through conferences, retreats, internet, publications, and campus ministries.

Now, as always, we "Dare to be Lutheran" and nothing else.