Find the latest news about what’s going on in Higher Things.
Higher Things® is pleased to announce the availability of the 2015 Lent and Holy Week Reflections! Hear how Jesus “Lents” for us during these forty days through His suffering and death and resurrection. The Reflections remind us that Lent is not about us but about our Savior. You can download the Reflections booklet or in a wide variety of other file formats by clicking here.
In Christ,
Pastor Mark Buetow
HT Media Services
Higher Things® is once again pleased to offer an entire Vacation Bible School package! The year’s “Te Deum” VBS ties in with the theme of the our 2015 Conferences and bring the worship, Word, and fun of Higher Things® to younger children. This year’s “Te Deum” VBS continues teaching a portion of the Small Catechism, this year, the Lord’s Prayer. The HT VBS contains everything you need for Opening and Closing Worship, Bible and Catechism teaching, Snacks, Games, Crafts, and Preschool and Adult Bible Study materials to round out your program for all ages.
As in previous editions, everything you need to organize, set up, and run your VBS is included in this package in reproducible files. The Higher Things® “Te Deum” 2015 VBS can be purchased for $99 either as a direct download or on a CD (available in the next couple weeks).
If you’d like to know more before you buy, please check out our “Te Deum” 2015 VBS Preview. This file will give you an overview and glimpse into all the great material for the entire Day 1 of the VBS program.
If you would like more information or have questions, please contact us via email: vbs@higherthings.org.
To purchase the 2015 VBS, visit higherthings.org/vbs.
Stuck in waiting-list purgatory? Didn’t even bother registering for a Higher Things conference this year because you heard they were full. ALREADY.
Once again this year, Higher Things is holding three summer youth conferences. But by New Year’s, TWO of those conferences had already reached capacity — weeks earlier than has ever happened before! And now, less than two weeks later, both conferences have over 100 people on waiting lists!
The third conference, being held at the University of Nevada — Las Vegas, still has room with no waiting. If you want register for a conference where you will definitely get in, go to Vegas! It might be a little farther to travel than the midwest sites, but airlines are always running specials to go there. You can probably find a great deal.
In Michigan, we are limited by the capacity of the chapel on Calvin College. We absolutely cannot open up any more spots for that conference. Sorry. However, in Nebraska, we have been limited by the housing capacity on Concordia’s campus. Our conference chapel can actually accommodate a few more people…
…so we are expanding the 2015 Nebraska conference ONLY, by offering a non-housing registration option for 250 people! This non-housing registration is only available via opt-in for those who are already on a waiting list (yes, for Nebraska OR Michigan). Groups who already have approved registrations for a 2015 HT conference MAY NOT use this option. It is ONLY to be used to expand the current approved registrations at the Nebraska conference. However, groups on the waiting list for Michigan may transfer their registrations to the Nebraska conference and opt in for the non-housing registration with no penalty.
The non-housing registration rate will be $255/person, through the remaining registration period which ends on January 31. From February 1-April 30 it will be $285/person and then on May 1, it will increase to $310/person. That’s a savings of $90/person off the current registration rate! Registration rates are determined by the date your group’s BALANCE is paid in full. For your convenience, we have reserved a block of rooms at a hotel in nearby Lincoln, and will provide the name and contact information for that hotel to each group leader, once they are registered and approved for the non-housing option. Groups will be responsible to contact the hotel and make their own reservation(s). Groups are not required to stay at this hotel if they are approved for non-housing registrations, but we have selected it so that safe, affordable, and nice quality rooms would be available for any Higher Things youth and their chaperones who may be staying off-campus.
For groups already on a waiting list: If you are already on a waiting list and have your deposits paid, you will need to contact Crysten Sanchez, the Conference Registrar (registrar@higherthings.org) to notify her that you would like to opt in for the non-housing registration and she will provide the hotel information for you at that time.
For new groups that have not yet registered: To take advantage of the Nebraska conference expansion, groups must first be registered and on the waiting list to attend the Nebraska or Michigan conferences. If you have not yet registered (and now wish to do so since there’s room!) you will need register online before you can proceed. Once registered and your groups’ deposits received, the Conference Registrar will contact you with the hotel information.
Please remember that this expansion is limited to just 250 registrants. Once we reach this new capacity, that will be all the room we have for the 2015 Nebraska conference. Please do not make hotel reservations or plan to attend without having your registration approved first. This non-housing registration is an exception that Higher Things is making ONLY for the 2015 Nebraska conference and will not be offered for the other 2015 or for future conferences. Download details about the conferences and registration polices and processes at TeDeum2015.org, and remember that there is room with no waiting for the Las Vegas conference!
Questions? Feel free to contact me at conferences@higherthings.org or email my assistant, Crysten Sanchez, the HT Conference Registrar at registrar@higherthings.org or call us toll-free at 888-482-6630.
In Christ,
Sandra Ostapowich
Conference Executive
Higher Things, Inc.
conferences@higherthings.org
888-482-6630
Higher Things invites everyone to attend a reception during the CTSFW Symposia
on
Tuesday, January 20,
from
7:00-10:00 p.m.
in the
Commons Building
on the
Concordia Theological Seminary campus.
Come and catch up on all things Higher Things!
Light refreshments and drinks will be provided.
We have reached capacity on the Higher Things “Te Deum” conference in Seward, NE and groups have been moved onto the waiting list. Those groups with unpaid deposits should assume that they are on the waiting list unless they are contacted by the Registrar stating that their deposits have been received and they are approved for registration.
Registration is still open for the other two conferences in Las Vegas (July 14-17) and in Michigan (July 21-24). Download information and register online at TeDeum2015.org!
Registrations for two of the three Higher Things “Te Deum” conferences this summer are quickly reaching capacity! Grand Rapids is over 80% full and Seward is over 90% full — and has fewer than 100 spots left! The waiting list policies will go into effect once each conference reaches capacity. This will prioritize those groups who have paid deposits over those that have not. If your group has registered, please get those deposits in as soon as possible. And if your group is still planning to register, do so quickly (and pay the deposit immediately) or your group may end up on the waiting list to attend a conference. Pastors and group leaders can download registration information and register online at TeDeum2015.org.
There is still plenty of room at the conference at the University of Las Vegas. The UNLV campus is in a safe area of the city and many airlines offer inexpensive airfare to Las Vegas year-round! We look forward to celebrating our 15th year of Lutheran Youth conferences this summer!
In Christ,
Sandra Ostapowich
conferences@higherthings.org
Conferences Executive
Just one month into registration, we are excited to announce that the 2015 Higher Things “Te Deum” conferences in Grand Rapids, MI and Seward, NE are BOTH 50% full!
Please note that even though your group may have already registered for a conference, those spots are not guaranteed until the $100/person deposit has been paid. So if you have registered, get those deposits in ASAP. If you haven’t registered yet, you should probably do so sooner rather than later — and pay the deposits right away.
Once again, this summer, Higher Things will host three Lutheran youth conferences: University of Nevada in Las Vegas, NV from July 14-17; Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI from July 21-24 and Concordia University – Nebraska in Seward, NE from July 28-31. Register online (and pay your deposit/balance immediately) at TeDeum2015.org!
In Christ,
Sandra Ostapowich
Conference Executive
conferences@higherthings.org
Higher Things announces the 2014-15 Advent and Christmas Reflections! These daily devotions will take you through the days of Advent as the Lord prepares us for the coming of Jesus at Christmas and again on the Last Day. Then we hear the Good News of our Savior’s being born to save sinners! You can get these reflections as a printable booklet or in a wide variety of other file formats by clicking here.
In Christ,
Pastor Mark Buetow
HT Media Services
Registration opens in just one week for the 2015 Higher Things conferences! Groups may begin registering on November 1, 2014. Registration is open to youth ages 12 and up and adult chaperones. College students are also welcome to attend or apply to serve as College Conference Volunteers (CCVs). The conferences are geared primarily for high school students who have been confirmed but younger youth are welcome to attend with appropriate supervision. Download conference details and registration instructions at www.TeDeum2015.org!
This summer, we will once again hold three Lutheran youth conferences. We will begin at the University of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV from July 14-17, 2015 with Rev. David Kind (University Lutheran Chapel in Minneapolis, MN) and Rev. Donavon Riley (St. John’s Lutheran Church in Webster, MN) as plenary speakers. The following week, July 21-24, 2015, we will be at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI with Rev. George Borghardt (Zion Ev. Lutheran Church in McHenry, IL; President of Higher Things) and Rev. Mark Buetow (Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, IL; Deputy/Media Executive). The final 2015 conference will be from July 28-31 at Concordia University – Nebraska in Seward, NE with Rev. William Cwirla (Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, CA) and Rev. Bruce Keseman (Our Savior Lutheran Church in Freeburg, IL) as plenary speakers.
We look forward to seeing you all again this July! Please contact conferences@higherthings.org if you have any questions about our upcoming conferences!
In Christ,
Sandra Ostapowich
Conference Executive
Higher Things, Inc.
conferences@higherthings.org
(815) 322-6332
Te Deum, Te Deum Laudamus, “We Praise You, O God.” All praise, all glory, all honor, all everything goes to you, O Lord, for You sent Your Son who died on the cross for us. He rose again. He saves. He is the sacrifice that makes us — and our praise — acceptable to You.
In the Te Deum, we confess all that God the Father did for us in the sending of His Son. And by faith, we join our voices with those apostles, prophets, martyrs, and of the whole Church of all times and places, in praise and worship of the Holy Trinity…giving us a glimpse right into the divine Throne Room of heaven itself!
This summer’s 2015 Higher Things Conferences will rejoice in the gift of the Te Deum, a hymn of praise that gives us a foretaste of what’s happening in worship in heaven and on earth.
Youth need solid ground that will nurture lasting Christian faith. At Higher Things conference, you’ll hear the same pure doctrine of forgiveness, life, and salvation you are already hearing at home. you’ll spend four great days worshipping and learning with Lutherans from all over the country, while getting a taste of college life. Every year, youth return home with a greater appreciation of what it means to be distinctly Lutheran. Come Dare to be Lutheran and join in the fun at a Higher Things youth conference this summer!
For more information download the registration packet.
Registration opens November 1st at tedeum2015.org.
