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Good morning! Firstly, I appreciate the feedback that I received from last week's email regarding the formatting being difficult to read. I hope this is simpler in getting the information into your hands!
COVID-19 Updates
Next, a quick update regarding the COVID-19 crisis. Over this past week, President Trump put into place new guidelines for social distancing and precautions to extend to April 30th. Even with that being the case, all four of our sites still plan on holding their summer schedules. Our schedule has not yet changed! I will keep updating you in these emails, or as other information is released.
One thing we are changing is our Background Check deadline. Our current policy states that all individuals 21 and over must submit a National Criminal and Sexual Predator background check by May 1st. We are extending that deadline to May 15th with the understanding that it is not a hard deadline and we will work with whatever circumstances the country is in at that point. Feel free to wait until May to run your background checks. They are typically returned within 24-48 hours, so we still have plenty of time.
One other procedural change that we are making is regarding cancellations and refunds through our online registration system. Because of the need to keep extra careful financial documentation this year, all refunds will now manually go through our Conference Assistant and Registrar, Cyndy Bishop. If you need to cancel any registrations, please contact her at registrar@higherthings.org. Our normal refund policy is in place until at least April 30th.
We had a question posed to us in regards to fundraising. The current social distancing guidelines are making it difficult for congregations to do the work of raising money to get them to conferences right now. We understand! We're working on some resources and will be including them in next week's group leader email. Please keep the conversation open and help us to know what you need assistance with!
Deaf Friendly Conference
Higher Things is proud to announce our fifth annual deaf-friendly conference this summer at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, MO. As in years past, we will have two American Sign Language interpreters who are proficient in rich, theologically deep Lutheran terminology. But this year, we are so excited to also have a Chaplain for the Deaf to lead specific worship services specifically in ASL. Also new on staff this year is our Deaf Liaison, Jennifer Ceyanes. Jennifer is deaf and will be helping our deaf attendees feel comfortable navigating the conference and all that comes with that.
I tell you all of that, in order to ask you this: If you know of any deaf Lutherans who would be filled by experiencing a Higher Things conference, would you please get them in touch with me? Help us to Dare the Lutheran Deaf Community to be Lutheran!
Sensory Friendly Rooms
This year we will also again be offering Sensory Friendly Rooms at all of our conferences. We understand that, while an incredibly exciting time of the year, Higher Things conferences can easily become overwhelming. These rooms provide a quiet place for individuals who have sensory issues to destress, calm down, and get to the point of being able to rejoin the activity. The rooms are open to all individuals, not just people who may have sensory issues.
While the world seems on hold right now, we at Higher Things continue to plan for an incredible conference season. We will respond to the situation with educated, responsible decisions that are made in conjunction with our sites for this conference season. We covet your prayers, even as we pray for you as you prepare in the midst of uncertainty!
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