to offer hope
Daily devotional guide celebrates 75th anniversary
NASHVILLE (Tennessee) – Randy, 45, was in prison for the second time. Struggling with addiction since his teens, he had stolen to buy drugs. “My life has never held much of anything important,” he said.
Randy planned to hang himself from a sprinkler system. But, somehow, he found – and opened – a copy of The Upper Room daily devotional guide. He read about a woman’s struggles with broken relationships, drug abuse and alcoholism.
“I don’t know how this copy of The Upper Room got in here,” he recalled. “I read Rachel Ophoff’s story, and her strength touched me. Could God really be trying to talk to me?”
Writing to publisher Sarah Wilke, Randy asked her to “be sure Mrs Ophoff knows her story touched someone with no hope”.
For 75 years, The Upper Room daily devotional guide has offered hope and inspiration to believers and seekers alike. However, today it is much more than “just a little daily devotional guide”, Ms Wilke said.
Launched during the Great Depression as a quarterly devotional booklet that sold for a nickel a copy, The Upper Room today reaches people in 40 languages in more than 100 countries.
Most of the stories are written by ordinary lay people who share their experiences and tell how Jesus Christ makes a difference in their lives. That sets the booklet apart from other devotional guides written by theologians.
“The writer’s experience connects with the reader’s experience,” Ms Wilke said. “It gives authenticity that is unmistakable.” In today’s world, there is a big push to go digital.
However, Ms Wilke said: “We still are print-centric. Every other month, we print and distribute 2.2 million copies of the little English, small-print edition.” The total copy run for each issue is 2.6 million.
“You can download and have e-blasted to you and get that daily devotional in many, many ways,” Ms Wilke said. “However, even as that grows, only about 57,000 people receive it daily digitally. There is something about having your Scripture in print.”
Seventy-five years ago, the tiny staff of The Upper Room wrote the meditations. Today, the writers include anyone who wishes to submit a story. The challenge for the staff is sifting through 5,000 submissions of meditations per year – half of which come electronically – and narrowing the possibilities to 365.
The ministry involves much more than the devotional. Two of the most powerful outreach programmes, Ms Wilke said, are the ecumenical – and global – Walk to Emmaus and Chrysalis. The goal of Emmaus is to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. Chrysalis is the youth/young adult version of Emmaus.
Every year, about 10,000 people visit The Upper Room Chapel in Nashville, Tennessee. A beautiful carved replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” painting is the focal point. – United Methodist News Service.
Devotional guides celebrate the 75th anniversary of The Upper Room. – UMNS photo.