Higher Things sets Jan. 2 ‘UnConference’

Higher Things is announcing what it calls a “TED”-style “unConference” for 3-9:30 p.m. Jan. 2 at Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, Ill. Its theme is “We Confess.”

“TED” talks are typically several brief stand-up presentations, each on a specific topic.

Online registration for the event geared toward college students and young adults opens Nov. 1 at http://higherthings.org/we-confess-2016 and is limited to 200 attendees. For those not able to attend, it will be live-streamed, with downloadable unConference materials.

“Come spend an evening drinking from the firehose of the Gospel,” said Higher Things Conference Executive Sandra Ostapowich. “Seven incredible Lutheran pastors will have 20 minutes each to discuss the chief parts of the Small Catechism.”

Scheduled topics and speakers are:

“The Ten Commandments,” with the Rev. Mark Buetow, pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church and Preschool, Du Quoin, Ill., and media executive and deputy executive with Higher Things;

“The Creed,” with the Rev. Dr. Steven Mueller, professor of Theology and dean of Christ College at Concordia University, Irvine, Calif.;

“The Lord’s Prayer,” with the Rev. David Kind, a campus pastor serving University Lutheran Chapel at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis;

“Holy Baptism,” with the Rev. George Borghardt, senior pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, McHenry, Ill., and president of Higher Things;

“Holy Absolution,” with the Rev. Chris Rosebrough, pastor of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church, Oslo, Minn., and host of “Fighting for the Faith,” a weekday podcast;

“The Lord’s Supper,” with the Rev. Donavon Riley, pastor of Saint John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Webster, Minn., and online content director for Higher Things; and

“Daily Prayer and the Table of Duties,” with the Rev. William Cwirla, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Hacienda Heights, Calif.

The unConference schedule begins with Vespers and ends with Evening Prayer, followed by a dinner and a question-and-answer session with members of the speakers panel.

A registration fee of $100 per person covers printed material and dinner.

Higher Things is an LCMS Recognized Service Organization that holds annual youth conferences and helps parents, congregations and pastors “in cultivating, encouraging and promoting a distinctly Lutheran identity among youth and young adults,” according to a news release it issued about the unConference.

“This unConference expounds on the Higher Things mission statement,” said Ostapowich. “We’re helping to bridge the gap between conferences and dare young adults to be Lutheran.”

For more information about Higher Things, visit its website at http://higherthings.org.

Posted Oct. 29, 2015