Higher Things - Day 3

Day Three at Higher Things is much like Day Two, except that the routine is now easier, things are flowing a little better, and the kids are more excited (and tired!). Two breakaways again today, and I taught mine for the second time - which went better, as it always does. :-)  The kids also have a little more free time in the evening this last night, and are busy earning points for our tetramorph team.

One of the ways to earn points was in the Talent Show. Robert played a piano piece and Cyrus and Dan performed a rap written by Cyrus about the four tetramorphs! It really was quite good. The performance was a bit timid (hard to do in front of a lot of people and judges), but the judges gave them an honorable mention (aka 4th place) for the inventiveness of the rap, and with that, 50 points for our team. I must say, the level of talent was high and the competition stiff. 

A few more pictures . . .

With the three Executive Directors of HT - Patrick, Crysten, and Harrison.

Dr. James Lee, professor at Concordia-Chicago.

New England District President and long-time friend Bob Beinke.

Scott, our A/V guy extraordinaire!

Robert playing his talent show piece.

Dan and Cyrus rapping.

Higher Things - Day 2, Post 2

Day 2 was the "Conference Shirt Day" - the day everyone (almost) wears their conference shirt. So we took our group picture that day:

 

I also preached at Wednesday Vespers. Click here to read that.

Higher Things - Day 2

Today was the first full day. Matins, Vespers, Evening Prayer, and Compline services. One plenary and two breakaways. I taught today in one of the breakaways. It went okay. Had a room full of youth and stayed extra about 20-25 minutes to answer questions afterward. We had a few other matters to deal with, but all-in-all a full but good day.

One of the free time activities in the evening was painting. Here's some of our group taking part in that:

Some other friends (old and new) I got to see today:

Pastor Peter Gregory. He served as the Catechist for the conference.

Pastor Dan Freeman, one of our preachers, from Washington State.

Pastor Jeff Ware from Charlotte, NC, dressed as one of the tetramorphs, Vir, and also a member of the Board of Directors for Higher Things.

Another popular free time activity was the Lego Masters challenge. A group of our youth took part in that as well. They were give a set of bricks and had one hour to create something to reflect the conference theme All Things New. Here's their creation:

They build the New Jerusalem with water flowing out and over the side of the table. :-)

And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Higher Things - Day 1

Monday night was hot. HOT! The dorms did not have air conditioning. Many brought fans. Some bought fans after they arrived. And some of the youth . . .

. . . slept on the floor of the lounge in the dorm to escape the heat in their rooms. (Note: These are not our youth!) I felt bad for them. I did not sleep well either. But the conference starts today, so just suck it up and get to work!

The Opening Divine Service was at 2 pm, preceded by a Leaders Meeting. So the morning was for setting up for the service, making sure all the pastors vestments were steamed and ready to go, and double checking everything. 

Some of my assisting pastors.

After the Opening Service was the first plenary speaker, then dinner, followed by the first breakaway session, Evening Prayer, and then time for the youth to have Private Absolution. So it was a busy first day. The youth had free time after that - lots of games and fun activities to do. I lead Compline for the Staff at 10 in their dorm, and then head over to our dorm for Compline with the youth at 11. 

Got to see a good friend again, Jocelyn Benson, Founder and Head Teacher of Wittenberg Academy.

And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Higher Things - Set-up and Arrival

So first, apologies that I did not keep up with posting this week! I really was just too busy. Every day was full, and what little downtime I had was spent trying to get sermons written for Sunday and Monday's funeral. But I'll try to catch up and tell you about the week . . .

Monday morning: unload the truck and set-up. 

Higher Things has a box truck and it is FULL of stuff! Pretty much everything we need, we bring with us. So there's a lot to unload and sort and get to where it needs to go. The nice things about this conference is that almost everything (chapel, plenaries, breakaway sessions, merch, and HQ) was in the same building, so the truck didn't have to drive from place to place - which is the way it often is.

After unloading, the rest of the day was spent unpacking, sorting, finding what we needed, figuring out how to set-up a chapel space, thinking through logistics, and getting things ready for the Opening Service on Tuesday. All this was because we didn't actually have a chapel to use - we had to use the auditorium and turn it into a worshipful space. 

Oh, and we also had to move me down from the Staff dorm to the dorm where my group would be staying. It was a full day!

I was assigned a CCV (Conference College Volunteer) who worked with me in the chapel all week. Her name was Magdalena and - bonus! - I knew her father at the Seminary and she is friends with my daughter! She was a BIG help, since I didn't have any summer vicars or deaconess interns this year. She, the organist, and I pretty much ran the chapel for the week. (Sadly, I did not take any pictures of the chapel set-up to show you!)

After dinner was an Evening Prayer service for all the Staff to bless the room and the chapel space and just to end the day right. I also ordered a bunch of pizzas for our group so it would be here for them when they arrived - which was around 9 o'clock or so, I think. I got back to the dorm around 10:30ish I think, and helped them settle in. Then I had to move into my room and turn in. 

Oh, and did I mention it was HOT! And the dorms were HOT! No AC. Fans blew hot air around, which helped a little . . . but pretty brutal heat the first few days. but more on that tomorrow . . .

Matthew Machemer

Associate Kantor at our Fort Wayne Seminary

and our Organist for the week

Higher Things - Drive and Set-up Day

Awful. Just awful.

A leisurely Sunday afternoon drive up the East Coast to Massachusetts? Not happening.

I actually left earlier than I thought I would, and got in later than I wanted. Ugh. Just awful.

Crawled on the Beltway. Crawled up I-95 in Maryland. Crawled through Delaware. The NJ Turnpike was actually good! But then got on the Garden State Parkway and . . . crawled. NY State Thruway? Crawled. Once I got across the bridge it was okay for a bit, but then a highway entrance closed for construction sent me on a detour where me and everyone else who wanted to get onto the highway . . . crawled. Between sheer volume, construction, and accidents, it was NOT a nice drive!

I did finally arrive and guess what? Couldn't get my room! They have me staying with my group instead of with staff, which is in another dorm which doesn't have check-in yet! Fortunately, they worked it out for me and I finally got to a bed, but today I have to move to the other dorm whenever that opens for check-in. Just another thing to do . . .

Today is set-up day. So breakfast at 8, and then we begin unloading the truck at 9. Once we get all the chapel stuff, have to figure out how to set up the chapel and get it all ready to go. All our services will be in the auditorium, so we have to figure out how to set up a worship space to share with where the plenaries will be. Then get everything organized and ready for tomorrow. Today ends with Evening Prayer for the staff at 9 pm and to consecrate the space for our church.

This campus (UMass-Amherst) is BIG! I think we're going to do a LOT of walking . . .

Passports

So my passport expires in January of next year, so time to start the renewal process. I don't know why passports aren't accepted when they have less than six months until their expiration, but there ya' go. So time to renew. 

I saw that you can do this online now. So I went and got a new photo and did the online process. It was pretty easy. They tell you to expect the process to take 6 weeks or so, but in LESS than one week after my payment cleared, I was notified that my application was successful, my new passport printed, and it is now in the mail to me! Less than one week! My wife said, "Yup. That's what happens when people go back in to work!"