The Upper Room turns 70
Devotional guide celebrates 70 years of connecting people with
God
By LINDA GREEN
FOR 70 years, The Upper Room
has been bringing people together to experience Christ.
The daily devotional guide is
a spiritual companion for more than 2.5 million Christians seeking
to know and experience God more fully.
This year, it is celebrating 70
years of helping people make space for God in their daily lives
and of teaching ways to respond faithfully to God's calling, said
the Rev Stephen Bryant, Editor and Publisher of Upper Room Ministries,
a division of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship of the
United Methodist Church.
The Upper Room helps people focus
on what is central to faith -- their relationship with God. It
"keeps people in touch with the here-and-now reality of God's
presence in their lives," the Rev Bryant said.
It is unique because it is written
by its own readers, including lay and clergy from around the world
and representing many denominations. Thus, the devotions provide
a glimpse into God's work in the lives of ordinary people.
"The devotions come out of
the real experience, needs and surprises of grace in people's
lives," said the Rev Bryant.
The devotional guide was launched
during the Great Depression of the 1930s when a group of women
in San Antonio discerned, through prayer, that families needed
daily worship and Bible study to sustain them. They asked their
church for a devotional guide. That request inspired the Board
of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to publish
a quarterly devotional booklet to be sold in the local church.
It was born in 1935.
Today, The Upper Room is published
worldwide in 73 editions and 44 languages. It is used by individuals
and families and in meetings and other ministry settings in vastly
different cultures in 100 countries. A free e-mail edition devotion
is available, and it also can be read on the Internet at www.upperroom.org/devotional.
The guide has lasted because it
continues "being true to the intention of the prayer group",
said Ms Sherry Elliott, Director of Administrative Services of
Upper Room Ministries. "Those women knew exactly what Christians
needed, and we have stayed on the path and keep that at the heart
of the ministry."
On its 70th anniversary, The Upper
Room is at a critical juncture in its efforts to support people's
spiritual lives. A redesign is under way to include a new cover,
photos of the writers and small group discussion questions.
The guide provides a brief devotional
for each day of the month, including a Scripture passage, prayer
and "Thought for the Day".
Based in Nashville, Tennessee,
Upper Room Ministries publishes books, online resources and five
other magazines: Weavings, Devo'Zine, Pockets, Alive Now and El
Aposento Alto. It provides discussion space and other interactive
features on web sites for each magazine.
Upper Room Ministries has developed
seven events that bring people together in face-to-face communities
for spiritual nurture. Among those are the Walk to Emmaus and
the Academy for Spiritual Formation. All provide spiritual renewal
and a nurturing of the mind, body and spirit.
Upper Room Ministries is more
about building community than individual meditation. -- United
Methodist News Service.
Linda Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tennessee.
The upcoming July-August 2005 issue of
The Upper Room. -- Methodist Message picture.
Get your copy from CAC
THE English and Bilingual editions of The Upper Room are being
distributed throughout South-east Asia and the Pacific by the
Chinese Annual Conference (CAC) of The Methodist Church in Singapore.
The CAC took over the distribution
rights for the devotional guide in January 2003 following the
closure of the Methodist Book Room.
Those who wish to subscribe to
the devotional guide can contact Ms Tan Siew Khim at tel: (65)
6478-4815, or fax to:
(65) 6478-4816, or email: upperroom@methodist.org.sg