Two comments: First, the attendance at Higher Things conferences continues to grow; these youth attendees and their adult chaperones value the Law and Gospel as proclaimed to them in the traditional liturgies of the church. These youth are the future of the LCMS, and they value the truth of what they are taught by pastors and adult leaders at these conferences.

Second, when an official of one's district tells a vacant congregation that if it has been doing the same thing for the last 20 years (proclaiming Law and Gospel using traditional liturgies), one must change, something is wrong with the District's thinking. If the District cannot remain faithful to the Word, how can it expect the members of its congregations to remain faithful?