A UMNS Feature
By Barbara Dunlap-Berg*

11:30 A.M. EST Sept. 3 2010 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

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 the sprinkler system at lockdown. 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 The Upper Room is much more than “just a little daily devotional guide,” Wilke said.

Launched during the Great Depression as a quarterly devotional booklet that sold for a nickel a copy, today The Upper Room reaches people in 40 languages in more than 100 countries.

Most of the stories are penned 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,” Wilke said. “It gives authenticity that is unmistakable.”

‘Still print-centric’

In today’s world, there is a big push to go digital.

However, 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,” 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 Upper Room staff wrote the meditations. Today, the playing field includes 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.

Many spiritual paths

The ministry involves much more than the devotional.

Two of the most powerful outreach programs, 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.

A recent venture is Africa Upper Room Ministries near Johannesburg, South Africa. Africa Upper Room Ministries, a publishing entity, is creating Emmaus and Spiritual Formation academy experiences. “We have a ministry in Cape Town as well, and an adjunct member of that team in Kenya,” Wilke said. Using the South Africa model, The Upper Room hopes to open other satellite ministries around the world.

The Living Prayer Center is another popular ministry of The Upper Room, part of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. Hundreds of volunteers—individuals and 250 Covenant Prayer Groups—answer the toll-free prayer lines 365 days a year to pray for more than 30,000 requests a month.

People phone and e-mail prayer requests, which center manager Migdiel Perez sends to prayer partners around the world. Many recent calls have dealt with “the issue of finding or keeping a job—being able to provide for those the caller loves and cares for,” he said.

Perez recalled one caller who spoke Mandarin. “We were able to connect them with a former missionary who was able to pray with them in their heart language.”

A 27-year veteran of the prayer center—first as a staff member and now as a volunteer—Betty Stroud has passion for her work.

“The greatest joy is when I encourage a hurting person and assure them of God’s love and grace,” she said.

Chapel is ‘sacred space’

Every year, about 10,000 people visit The Upper Room chapel in Nashville, Tenn. A beautiful carved replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” painting is the focal point.

Recently, military spouse Tiffany Diamond brought her grandmother Fran Elliott, who was visiting from out of town.

“I attend St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Easton, Md.,” Elliott said, “and know how much The Upper Room daily devotionals mean to many in our congregation.”

The chapel is “sacred space,” Wilke said. “There’s something very special about being in this environment and bringing your joys, your concerns, your celebrations.”

Recently she met a couple in the bookstore adjacent to the chapel. Celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, they simply wanted to “be in this space and have time in prayer together.”

The love of Jesus

Marking The Upper Room’s 75th year has been fun, Wilke said. A celebration at Travis Park United Methodist Church, San Antonio—where laywoman Frances Craig marshaled the congregation literally to pray The Upper Room into existence—kicked off the anniversary. Next on the agenda is a Nov. 7 celebration for the millions who use the daily devotional.

“We’re encouraging churches to go to our website” for downloadable resources, including a four-minute video, Wilke said. “We will publish the billionth copy in the November/December edition. We believe that 25 to 50 percent of our people in the pews of Methodism and many other denominations are reading these meditations and lifting up their joys, their concerns, their families and their faith each day together through The Upper Room daily devotional.”

As long as people of all ages seek to embrace spirituality, Wilke asserted, The Upper Room will remain a vital, viable ministry.

“We tell people, ‘God loves you. Jesus loves you.’ What we forget to say is, ‘God loves you and would like to get to know you.’ I think what The Upper Room brings is an opportunity to grow into that daily relationship with God.”

*Dunlap-Berg is internal content editor for United Methodist Communications.

News media contact: Barbara Dunlap-Berg, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5489 or newsdesk@umcom.org.