Category: Current Events

Rev. Eric Brown

October is (for some reason that is beyond me) now deemed to be Pastor Appreciation Month. Now, at my congregation that means that there was a cake in my honor at the quarterly Voters’ meeting, and I am completely on-board with having some cake to accompany any church meeting. And yes, you should indeed appreciate your pastor because God has sent your pastor to you to do something wondrous: to preach the life giving Word of God.

Really, a pastor is a Word fellow. His job is to revolve around and be utterly enmeshed in the Word of God. When he preaches, he preaches the Word of God and not the whims of the day. When he teaches, he teaches the Word of God and not his own vain ideas. When he corrects and reproofs, he does so with the clear Word of God and not his own thoughts on how things ought to be. When he comforts and forgives, he simply gives again what Christ has proclaimed and given in His Word. Because he deals with the Word, your pastor is rightly to be appreciated!

This is what Paul reminds the young pastor Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-4:2: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” As Timothy goes about his duties, he is doing nothing apart from or without the Word of God. And your pastor knows that this what his focus is to be how he goes about his duties. It’s what all of us who are pastors promised to do when we were ordained.

So I’ll let you in on a little secret. Do you want to show your pastor that you appreciate him? Listen to him preach the Word. Attend Bible studies. Ask him questions about the Word. Let him deal with the Word of God with you. Because while cake is tasty, your pastor knows that man doesn’t live by bread (even wonderfully sweetened bread with a yummy buttercream frosting) alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Eric Brown serves as pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Herscher, Illinois.

Rev. Brandt Hoffman

Do you want to hear a scary story? That’s a good question for this time of year. As we get closer to October 31, many Americans will celebrate by dressing up as Batman, Wonder Woman, a ghost, a witch or even a zombie.

They will spend their evening walking from house to house, saying “TRICK OR TREAT” and then collect candy from their neighbors. Later they might sit around the house and watch some sort of horror movie. That’s the fun with Halloween. The monsters aren’t real, the ghosts aren’t real, none of that scary stuff is real, except, thankfully, for the candy.

As Lutherans, we have another perspective on October 31. For us it is remembering the day in 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This is when Lutherans celebrate the beginning of the Reformation. Back then, they dealt with some very scary monsters indeed—unholy monsters that sought to devour the Christian Church on earth. Monsters that brought suffering and pain and left nothing but spiritual death in their wake.

At a time when the Christian Church was struggling with who we are and what we do, the Reformation was focused on delivering Christians out of fear and death, and delivering them over to the comfort and salvation of the Gospel in both Word and Sacrament, because the most frightening thing in the world is a Christian who believes he or she has no hope.

So this year, as we celebrate Reformation Sunday (October 30th this year), I hope you see it as a joyous day! On the day that began the restoration of so many good things in Christ’s Church, I hope it is a reminder of the gift we have in our Lutheran heritage of being strengthened by God’s good promises of forgiveness, life and salvation. God bless your Reformation Day, and watch out for the little goblins and ghouls roaming around your neighborhood on the 31st.

Rev. Brandt Hoffman is the Pastor and School Administrator at Christ Lutheran Church and School in Coos Bay, Oregon.

Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller

Jesus is the Bread of Life, the true food that has come down from heaven, and when we hear and believe His Word we feast on Him. In His flesh is life, and by faith we have that life of His, life that endures forever, life that pushes through death to the resurrection.

Gathering together with a crowd of Lutheran youth, pastors, and parents in Ft. Collins, Colorad this July for the Higher Things Conference was, indeed, a feasting on the Bread of Life. The worship—straight from the hymnal—was incredibly encouraging and the highlight of every youth I talked to. I laughed out loud as extended quotations from the Large Catechism were projected during the plenary lectures, imagining a stranger walking by and saying, “What kind of youth conference is this?” The kind that loves doctrine!

The break-out sectionals were loaded with phenomenal teachers of the church, that is, pastors, with open Bibles and engaging topics.

There was plenty of time to play, to eat, to sing, to pray, to rejoice in the Lord’s Word, and I give thanks to God for His blessings, and for the opportunity to be a part of this conference.

Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller serves as pastor at Hope Lutheran Church of Aurora, Colorado.

I love going to Higher Things every year because of the pure liturgical services, and the diverse breakaway sessions. Every one of the services offered is pulled directly from the Lutheran Hymnal, and in turn from God’s Word, ensuring that we receive God’s good gifts each and every time we worship. Using the Word also ensures that there is no deviation from what God tells us. For me, this is very reassuring in a world that is constantly trying to pull us away from Jesus.

The breakaway sessions are excellent to increase our knowledge as Christians. The topics range greatly from how to interpret the Scriptures with better understanding to the issues that are prevalent in our world today. I have found that these sessions help add to our tools to defend our faith in Jesus Christ.

I have gone every year for five years and each time I come away feeling that my faith has grown and being reminded that Christ died and rose for all of my sins out of His pure grace and mercy.

—Jessica Schmidt, Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church in Black Hawk, SD.

Higher Things is always a highlight of my summer. I have nothing but positive words for the Higher Things conference in Colorado. I felt like I have the best perspective as a chaperone because I was able to participate in everything the conference had to offer as well as hear the reactions and perspectives from the youth.

This was my sixth Higher Things conference and I was still constantly learning about my faith. I love the fact that Higher Things offers a large variety of breakaway sessions because they allow participants to choose the depth of their learning. We would meet up as a group after the sessions and our youth couldn’t wait to ask all of the questions they came up with. It is so fulfilling to know we are providing the youth with an opportunity to have a deeper understanding of their faith. The fact that Higher Things will take the time to actually teach what it means to be a Lutheran is so important because our youth will be better prepared to defend their faith in the future.

Higher Things also does an amazing job mixing the fun with the learning. There is never a dull moment at these conferences and our youth are always happily exhausted on the way home! We have deeply enjoyed every conference that we have attended and have already started making plans for next year!

—Megan Sutton, Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church in Black Hawk, SD.

Kay Maiwald

As I think about writing something regarding the conferences I attended this summer, I realize I have nothing new to say about Higher Things. Our family started attending conferences in 2007. By 2012, our boys were grown and not attending anymore, so my husband and I offered our help. Some years later we find ourselves happily embedded in the organization that is Higher Things. Each year we attend conferences and see the same things happening: historical liturgical worship, teaching on meaty theological and social topics, hundreds of kids enjoying the activities offered during free time, as well as stories of youth singing hymns on the way home and bringing services like Matins and Evening Prayer into their home congregations.

So, if there is nothing new, why keep coming, why get involved, why write about it at all? Exactly because of all the things mentioned above. While our youth are taught from an early age that they join each Sunday with the whole company of heaven, it doesn’t hurt to have in our ears and memories the sound of hundreds of Lutherans singing the same hymns of the Church. The teaching is an intense version of what we get each week from our pastor, in catechesis and Bible class. For youth like ours, who were growing up in a congregation with few or no other young people, it was important to have Lutheran friends from all over the country who could spend that four days together each year and support each other during the intervening months (and with whom they are still friends as adults). And nothing beats the attention given the processional cross as it enters the opening Divine Service, symbolic of the focus on Christ throughout the conference, and the way youth are directed back to the gifts of Christ given to them through their pastors at their home altars.

We once took an adult from our congregation to her first conference. At the end, she asked, “Why doesn’t EVERYONE from our congregation come to Higher Things?” Good question.

Kay Maiwald is a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, in Hancock, Maryland.

Monica Berndt

“…being Lutheran is still about open access to the Gospel. It will always be about access to God in Christ Jesus.” —A. Trevor Suttton, Being Lutheran

As I sit here trying to synthesize all the wonderful experiences of being a College Conference Volunteer (CCV) at the Higher Things conference in Colorado, I find that there is almost too much to write. How can I describe the joy of meeting with other college students who are have experienced the reality that Christ and Him crucified is not welcome on college campuses and that great feeling of relief that you do not have to explain your worldview to them because you share it? You can actually have discussions and talk about issues and know that the other person is not actively trying to tear down at every opportunity.

As CCVs, we come to a Higher Things conference ready to work—ready to walk all over the given campus; ready to direct and assist the attendees; ready to deliver water, diet Coke, and diet Mountain Dew to the breakout speakers; ready to cheer on our Tetramorphs; ready to scuttle out of chapel to hang up posters—and yet we never really know what experience is in store for us until we get there. By the end of the week, we can be exhausted and sore, but also overly energetic and sentimental after the final Divine Service. We meet wonderful people and make new friends, uncertain of whether or not we will ever see them again. But one thing is certain: At each Higher Things conference, we get the chance to hear about Jesus, receive His gifts, and learn and grow in our faith!

We still get to attend the breakaway sessions (after we deliver enthusiastic evaluation speeches, of course) and we get to soak up each individual topic presented by the speaker. We get just as excited about attending chapel with everyone else as any conference member, even though we may constantly walk around asking people to be quiet and look overly serious, and we get even more excited when someone near us knows the harmonies to the liturgy. We love sitting together and listening to a plenary session (even if our phones are buzzing off the hook the entire time). For us CCVs who come to the conferences, it’s about the opportunity to hear the Word in a community of believers—to hear, see, and receive Jesus.

Sure, there are some extra perks to being a CCV other than participating in 14 services over the course of the week. We do get some of our own time to goof off and be silly (especially in the company of our CCV managers) and just talk about life experiences and college. We also get the chance to meet and talk to a lot of the staff and pastors who are at the conference. We learn how to drive golf carts, sell and inventory merchandise, give semi-accurate directions around a campus we are not 100% familiar with, and run some pretty great entertainment for the youth. I guess what being a CCV boils down to is the chance to serve our neighbor and we relish the opportunity! It’s because the experience is not about us or about what we do, it’s about the Gospel and Jesus given and shed for you in the Sacrament. This is what truly draws us to become CCVs year after year.

One final thought: to all the staff, pastors, and volunteers who give up their time with their families, energy, and brain power to put on these conference and preach the Gospel, we THANK YOU! None of us could attend these conferences without your tireless efforts. Thank you for patiently working with the CCVs during our less-than-finest moments of forgetfulness and tardiness. Thank you for standing as an example to all of us of faithful adults who have survived the waters of college and are braving the tide of everyday life. Thank you for confessing Christ and daring to be Lutheran.

Monica Berndt served as a CCV for Bread of Life in Ft. Collins, Colorado. She attends the University of Washington and is a member at Messiah Lutheran Church in Seattle. Her goal is to become a music teacher and teach young Lutherans the joys of singing hymns.

The 2014 Higher Things conference was my first ever conference and since I had such an amazing time then, I had very high expectations for this year. And I have to say, my expectations were exceeded!

I absolutely loved the services we had throughout the day! It was great to have a service in the morning and in the afternoon—they really helped me touch base with Christ amidst all of the learning sessions, games, and other various activities. The services flowed well and the music was absolutely beautiful. The pastors’ sermons were captivating and most importantly, they included both the Law and the Gospel.

The hardest part of this conference was picking which breakaway sessions to go to! There were so many opportunities to learn about the Word of God but unfortunately I could only attend a select few. Every session I attended was excellent and enlightening. You could tell the pastors really knew what they were talking about and backed up all of their facts with specific passages from the Bible. If I had to pick a favorite I would pick Pastor Riley’s “God’s Love for Unlovable People.” This session shed a whole new light on how I view various characters throughout the Bible. I only wish time permitted me to listen to all of the breakaway sessions.

After spending the day learning the Word of God it was nice to be able to relax, have fun, and socialize on the Colorado State campus. They had an activity for everyone! My personal favorite was the talent competition—talented youth entertained me with music, magic, and even a bit of dancing! I thought it was ingenious to have teams that you were able to win points for because it really introduced me to new people and added a great level of competition to the conference. Whether you are artistic, musical, or athletic, there was a way to contribute to your team.

I strongly encourage youth all around the country to attend this well-rounded conference. I didn’t think it was possible for the conference staff to top the Wisconsin conference I attended two years ago, but they truly have outdone themselves!

This article was written by “Natalie,” a member at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri. Rev. Jacob Ehrhard serves as her pastor.

What is it like to be at a Higher Things Conference? In this article we hear from three members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Winside, NE. They attended Bread of Life 2016 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO.

Conference Reflections by Sadie Johanson

Higher Things is the one week I look forward to all year. It’s a place where we are joined together with more than 1,000 of our brothers and sisters in Christ to learn, worship, hear His word, and receive His Body and Blood.

Every year my favorite thing about this conference remains the same: the opening Divine Service, where nearly a thousand youth are gathered together in the church singing at the top of their lungs and confessing the same faith.

We had many breakout sessions in which I learned how our faith isn’t our job to somehow improve, for I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him, however in Christ God is already pleased with me. I also learned about individual confession and absolution and why it is so important, as well as why it is good to have art in the church and how it all points back to Christ and Him crucified for us. The evolution session taught me the difference between how the world looks at and treats people around them, compared to how Christians view the world.

Each day after learning and worshiping we would have a little fun. I particularly enjoyed the friendly competition this year between the tetramorphs, especially getting to meet other youth on the same team. I had fun searching for Walther, listening to performers in the talent show, participating in archery tag, and watching pastors and youth chant pop songs.

Even though I will not be able to return as a youth member to next year’s Higher Things conferences, I will cherish the memories and everything I have learned for the rest of my life.

Three Things That Pr. Harrison Goodman Loved About Bread of Life 2016

I love that my kids love it. Let me be more specific. All of them talk about coming back after graduation—to a “high school” event. They want to be CCVs. They want to be leaders. They want more. They could go other places to play games. They just seem to prefer worshipping multiple times a day in between Bible studies tackling real issues of doctrine and life, and then going to play games afterward. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t follow the “youth ministry” rules. It just equips our kids to be Lutherans in this world. It’s in-depth, and hard work comes before play, but it gives them the tools they need, and they love it.

I love that my kids sing. Not just for 4 days. I love that they’re the ones who sing out to carry my congregation through the tricky parts of Evening Prayer during Lent. Higher Things doesn’t promote conferences as a mountain top experience. They kind of shy away from it. However, this year we literally went 5,000 feet up a mountain and sang with 1,500 kids before an altar in front of a giant window that overlooked the Rocky Mountains. Whether or not you want to lean on the feeling that comes from hearing thousands of kids put seminary chapels to shame, it’s there. That feeling, whether we want it to or not, shapes our kids’ understanding of what church is supposed to look like as the line between heaven and earth is blurred by a Christ who makes Himself present for sinners. As it turns out, church is supposed to look a lot like what they get each week at home. We’re not teaching them that the pinnacle of church is something different from the Word and Sacraments they receive at home. Same church. It’s just a little louder up the mountain.

I love teaching. It’s not about the “atta-boys”, the attention, the free shirt, or even the chance to play with Power Point slides that prove I know how Google image search works. It’s because the kids don’t care about me at all. They just want Jesus. It sounds bad, but it’s incredible. So much of the adult dialogue about how to deal with kids is candy coating the assumption that you have to trick them into liking you, then trick them into liking Jesus. It still shocks me to see kids wander into a breakaway session knowing nothing about me at all, because they actually want to learn about Jesus. It’s a personal reminder that the stuff we teach on a daily basis really does matter to our people, young and old.

Reflections by Annika Johanson

I loved the experience of going to HT and knowing that there are other youth who love being Lutheran as well. I got to be with over 1,000 other Lutherans confessing and learning about Jesus.

During some of the breakaway sessions that I went to, I learned about different denominations, the minor prophets, the purpose of life, and confession and absolution and how to defend my faith. Plenary was a group Bible study where we learned about “The Bread of Life.”

I loved listening to the organist, the choir and everyone singing so loudly during all the services. I was thrilled to participate in orchestra which played during the last Divine Service. It was incredible and I look forward to going to another HT conference.

Paul Soulek

Serving as cantor (leader of the people’s song) for Higher Things in Nashville was great! I played the organ, directed the choir, and worked with the instrumentalists. The staff was superb, the participants were perky, and the liturgy was loud. But Higher Things is more than a momentary mountaintop of momentous musical moments.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his book Life Together: “It is the voice of the Church that is heard in singing together. It is not I who sing, but the Church. However, as a member of the Church, I may share in its song.”

The song of the Church is what we sing and teach at Higher Things. Jesus—for me and for you! As I traced the sign of the cross, I was reminded of my death and resurrection in Holy Baptism—and that there is nothing worth comparing to this life-long comfort sure. Together with youth and adults, pastors and laypeople, we joined with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven in their continuous song of praise—a song that has no end. We ate and drank Christ’s Body and Blood—the festival to which the Lord invites us.

If it hasn’t sunk in yet: the music of the Church is all about Christ. It simply sings God’s gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation. We sing about Jesus because…well…we need the gifts only He can give. And we need them throughout our lives as saints and sinners. These gifts are poured on our head, preached in our ears, and placed on our lips. We leave His presence in His peace, renewed again. And again. And again.

So keep singing. You’re part of a great and awesome chorus filled with all believers in Christ across time and space. Blessing, honor, glory and might be to God and the Lamb forever—amen!

(Hymn quotations from LSB 594, 161, 458, 602, 155, respectively)

Paul Soulek serves as cantor at St. John Church and School, Seward, Nebraska.

Lindsey Casey

Imagine standing in a giant room with hundreds of other Lutherans belting Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands so powerfully that you get chills? That is the opening Divine Service. How about sitting in an auditorium shoulder to shoulder with those same Lutherans learning about the meaning of O Living Bread of Heaven? Well that is the second plenary session. Oh, and how about making the impossible decision of trying to pick only six of the sixty classes offered that are taught by our own LCMS pastors and church workers? Those are the breakaway sessions. All three of these events and more occur at Higher Things—the best experience I have ever been privileged to attend and participate in.

To me, Higher Things is a conference offered to high school students who want to grow more in their faith while learning about what it means to be a Lutheran, well, with hundreds of others who want to do the same. It is a wonderful feeling knowing that I myself, as well as my fellow brothers and sisters in the faith, know and are being exposed to similar teenagers who are trying to get through this part of life as best as we can, and have this blessed experience available to learn the truth and how to navigate the stormy waters of this life through a confessional Lutheran perspective. Higher Things gives the opportunity to meet new people, and get to know them in order to create a lifelong, inseparable bond. For example, my new friend Bonnie and I talk every couple of weeks, and we hope to reunite at a future Higher Things conference.

As I previously mentioned, you do learn…A LOT! The catechesis is broken into two main categories: plenary sessions and breakaway classes. First, the plenary is a lecture given once a day by one of the two selected pastors to teach about the theme of the conference. It is a superb lecture that helps us high school students understand a central part of the Christian faith. This year we learned how Jesus is the Bread of Life and a lot about The Lord’s Supper. It was great! I certainly learned a plethora of information that I can take home to my church and apply on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Second, the breakaway classes are a series of class periods that you get to choose which you want to attend. The classes offered include the big topics that teenagers want to know more about, such as vocation, marriage and dating, and the LGBT community and how to address these things as confessional Lutherans. However, in addition to these quintessential topics, there are many classes on a variety of interesting subjects. My favorite breakaways that I attended were explaining creation and the eighth day and the gift of time, and a synopsis of the book of Amos in an hour. They may sound boring, but they weren’t and I’m so glad I went to them. The way that the pastors teach make it easy to understand and possible to take away what you learned and live by it.

Another surprisingly wonderful experience was private confession and absolution. It was optional, but I did it in spite of initially feeling a little scared and worried about it. We come face to face with our sin, and see how fallen we are. But then we hear God’s merciful words through the pastor and we receive the gift of forgiveness and grace and love. It is recommended you confess with your pastor there at the conference, but if you are not comfortable with it, there are plenty of other pastors who will hear your confession.

If I had to pick only one favorite memory from the conference that would be nearly impossible, but if I had to choose, it would have to be the worship. Singing alongside so many other Lutherans is such an astonishing experience. We worship just like this back home, but at the conference, we unite across states and countries and come together as one! I have no words that can truly grasp how striking and remarkable it is. Each of the 36 hymns made me realize the magnificence of praising God with so many others, but totally together. As we sing that final hymn during the closing Divine Service, you feel like you never want to leave. You’re left imagining the choir of heavenly hosts before our Lord, and how mindboggling that is. What could be more beautiful than that?


This was my third Higher Things conference, and each one has its own place in my heart. This particular conference has truly been a blessing to me, and has changed my life. I not only grew closer to my youth group and pastor, but I also grew closer to God and learned His love for me and the forgiveness that He so freely bestows on us poor, miserable sinners.

Higher Things provides an incredible opportunity to learn about what it means to be a Lutheran through services and classes. We young confessional Lutherans aren’t alone. Attending a conference provides the chance to see and experience that, even for only four days, but the understanding and faith strengthening we acquire in invaluable. It is the highlight of each whole summer and I look forward to it and talk about it the remainder of the year. I strongly encourage every Lutheran youth to attend at least one Higher Things conference. I’m sure that it will profoundly affect you and you will remember those four days for the rest of your life.

Lindsey Casey is a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Pensacola, FL and president of the youth group. She enjoys playing volleyball and runs track as a sophomore at West Florida High School of Advanced Technology.