Higher Things 2017 conference registration opens

Participants in a summer 2016 Higher Things conference at Colorado State University in Fort Collins gather for worship. (Higher Things/Ann Osburn)

Higher Things will join Lutherans around the world in 2017 commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Church’s Reformation at its four youth conferences next summer.

The dates and locations for those conferences — with the theme of “Here I Stand” — are:

June 27-30 at Trinity University, San Antonio;

July 4-7, Mars Hill University, Mars Hill, N.C.;

July 18-21, Montana State University, Bozeman, Mont.; and

July 25-28, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind.

Registration opened Nov. 1. Download the conference registration packet and register online at hereistand2017.org.

All-inclusive registration starts at $355 per person, which covers three nights of on-campus housing, nine meals and all conference programming. Frequently asked questions are covered in the packet.

The four conferences will run Tuesday through Friday and have similar schedules — with specific times for worship, Bible studies and planned free-time entertainment.

The “Here I Stand” conference theme is based on Martin Luther’s response at the Diet of Worms when asked if he recanted of his 95 Theses hung on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther is considered the “father” of the Reformation.

Specifically, Luther said, “Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear, and distinct ground and reasoning — and my conscience is captive to the Word of God — then I cannot and will not recant … Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

“The Higher Things motto [‘Dare to be Lutheran’] echoes next year’s conference theme,” said Conference Executive Sandra Ostapowich. “We’ll look at how we’re saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.”

Capacity is limited to 1,000 attendees at the Texas conference, 500 in North Carolina, 600 in Montana and 950 in Indiana. The conferences in Texas and Indiana are being planned as deaf-friendly.

“Get ready to register early so you have less chance of standing in a waiting-list line,” Ostapowich said.

Those four conferences will add to the 34 that Higher Things has held since its beginning in 2000.

An LCMS Recognized Service Organization, Higher Things holds annual youth conferences and “assists parents, congregations and pastors in cultivating a distinctly Lutheran identity among youth and young adults,” according to a news release about the 2017 conferences.

To learn more about Higher Things, visit higherthings.org.

Posted November 22, 2016