Category: News

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We would like to invite you to join a special email circle.  It is called “Friends of HT”.  Through this email list you will become engaged with the work and mission of Higher Things: “to promote and cultivate a Lutheran identity among youth.” By joining this list you will receive monthly updates, the quarterly newsletter electronically, chances to subscribe to the magazine (and maybe even win a one year subscription!), fund raising, articles on our supportive donors and congregations, and “spotlight” articles on some of the youth involved with Higher Things.  We hope you will consider joining this list and further supporting Higher Things.  To join, please send a blank email to friendsofht-subscribe@lists.higherthings.org.

In Christ,
Erika Gehrke

The Season of Advent gives us the promise of the Christ whose arrival we celebrate at Christmas as well as His Second Coming on the Last Day. Pastor Brad Drew of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Metairie (New Orleans), Louisiana writes the Reflections for these two seasons. He reminds us that as we celebrate Christ’s First Advent and await his Last Day Advent, we rejoice to receive Jesus already here and now in the holy gifts that He gives us in His Church.

Click here to download the Advent & Christmas Reflections in a reproducible booklet.

This Lock-In has been POSTPONED due to sporting conflicts and will be rescheduled for the spring. I’ve left the contact info here for any questions. Go Teams!~FL1

Preconference Lock-In
TBA
Location :                Messiah Lutheran Church, Mandan, ND
Cost :                        Free
Speaker :                 TBA
Contact :                  Pastor Baneck
Contact Phone:      701-663-8545
Contact Email:        jabmessiahmandan@copper.net

I’m pleased to announce that the Rev. George Borghardt and the Rev. Mark Buetow will be the plenary speakers at all three Amen conferences this summer!

The Rev. George F. Borghardt III is the Assistant/Youth Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe, TX. He graduated Louisiana State University with a degree in Classics and took five years to do it so that he could graduate from the Concordia Seminary with Pastor Buetow.  Pastor Borghardt and Amy, his wife of eleven years, have three children: George, Thomas, and Sophia.  Pastor Borghardt hates clowns, loves the Mets and is rumored to never sleep due to the amazing powers of Diet Coke.  He was the Coordinator of the 2007 FOR YOU Conference in Asheville, NC and was recently appointed to serve as the Conference Executive of Higher Things.

The Rev. Mark T. Buetow, S.T.M. received his Master of Divinity in 1998 but stayed at the seminary to get his Masters of Sacred Theology because he didn’t want to graduate until Pastor Borghardt did in 2000.  He served Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in New Orleans for 5-1/2 years until Hurricane Katrina huffed and puffed and blew him up to Kentucky. After a brief stint as a mediocre TV salesman, Pastor Buetow was called to Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, Illinois.  (Du Quoin is in the part of Illinois that is not Chicago).  He has been serving there since December of 2006.  Pastor Buetow has been married to Susan for 13 years and they have three children, twins Naomi and Anna and Emily.  Pastor Buetow is the Editor of the Reflections and serves as the Interim Internet Services Executive for Higher Things.  In his free time, Pastor Buetow enjoys playing strategy and boardgames you’ve never heard of as well as fiddling with computer operating systems you’ve never heard of.

I’m confident that both will proclaim the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in their plenaries and its fruit in the life of vocation.

For more information about the three Amen conferences in the Poconos, St. Louis and Irvine, visit our website at www.amen2008.org.  Registration has already begun!

In Christ,

The Rev. Brent Kuhlman
2008 Conference Catechesis Coordinator
Board of Directors
Higher Things, Inc.

Here are the Retreats and Lock-Ins coming up this month:

Birthday Party for Martin Luther – November 9-10 (7:00pm-8:30am)

Location: Trinity Lutheran Church, Miles City, MT
Cost: $5 per participant
Speaker: Rev. David Warner, Trinity Lutheran Church
Contact: Shelee Warner
Contact Phone: (406) 488-7139
Contact email: shelee@midrivers.com

Worship: What’s That? – HT Junior High Retreat (5th – 8th Grade) – November 10, 2007

Topic: Worship: What’s That?
Location: Zion Lutheran Church / Storm Lake, Iowa
Cost: $10 per participant
Speaker: Rev. John Sollberger, Pastor at St. Peter & Paul Lutheran Church Orchard, NE
Contact: Rev. Steve Schultz
Contact Phone: (712) 732-5005
Contact Email: steve.schulz@idwlcms.org

Preconference Lock-In – November 16-17 (7:00pm – 7:00am)

Location: Messiah Lutheran Church, Mandan, ND
Cost: Free
Speaker: TBA
Contact: Pastor Baneck>
Contact Phone: 701-663-8545
Contact Email: jabmessiahmandan@copper.net

If you’re in the area, hope you can make it to one of these great events.

Valete~FL1

Know what that means? No? Well, you’ll just have to check out the newest issue of Higher Things for the translation and to learn other cool Latin lingo. The Fall 2007 issue is hot off the presses and jam-packed with goodies. In this issue, you will:

• be let in on the Secret,
• learn what church architecture and Arrowhead Stadium have in common,
• discover why image is everything,
• unravel the mystery of closed Communion,
• find out how to make the most of your Christian freedom,
• get information on next year’s Amen conferences.

Plus: An HT FOR YOU Conference Photo Extravaganza!

The Church Year wraps up in the hope and expectation of our Lord’s Second Coming. As we live in anticipation of our Lord’s return, the Daily Reflections call us to be alert and watchful through faith and trust in Christ as we live our lives receiving His gifts in the Church and living lives of service to our neighbor. The Reflections for the End of the Church Year were written by Pastor John Drosendahl, Peace Lutheran Church, Goldsboro, North Carolina.

You can download the Daily Reflections in a printable booklet format here.

I’ve made some corrections to the retreats listing, most prominently the Storm Lake, Iowa Retreat will be held at Zion Lutheran Church, rather than Grace. 

Also, the contact for the “Be Mine” Retreat in Estes Park, CO, is Kellee Zweifel, and her name and email are now correctly spelled.

[UPDATED]: The contact email for Storm Lake, IA has been changed to smschulz@iw.net . Please use this address and not the one on the attached .pdf or in the upcoming magazine issue.

If you have any other corrections, send them my way and I will fix them asap.

~Valete, FL1