Spring 2018
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News and Updates for Friends of The Upper Room
Fellowship Focus Grounded in God Stephen D. Bryant Publisher, The Upper Room
Years ago, my children and I found a baby robin on the sidewalk near our home. Distressed that the bird had fallen, we put it back in its nest, only to find it down again later that day. I called a bird specialist who told me that birds learn to fly on the ground, where they learn to feed themselves. After several days, the mother bird calls them upward on their strengthened wings. Life in the Spirit works much the same way. Before we can soar in the Spirit, we must be grounded in God. The community of faith teaches us to feed on God’s word; it is the place from which we take off and where we land. I believe this is the meaning of the descending dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit in the story of Jesus’ baptism. The dove is moving earthward, not skyward. The Spirit of God has to land in our minds and take root in our hearts before we can “mount up with wings of eagles” (Isaiah 40:31). The descending of the Spirit upon Jesus is accompanied by a voice from heaven that grounds Jesus firmly in God: “You
are my beloved Son” (Matt. 3:13-17). Jesus had the assurance that God’s blessing was the sacred ground from which to launch his life and ministry. This Pentecost, I pray that you and I learn to be grounded in God’s love and live more fully in the Spirit. This is the ministry of The Upper Room—to deeply nourish the souls of one another by sharing God’s love and guidance. From strengthened, well-nourished roots, vibrant spiritual lives can grow. With prayer, love, and financial support, people like you help us invite individuals, families, and communities of faith to experience God’s presence, discover deep spiritual practice, persevere in a life-long spiritual pilgrimage, receive the power God gives for mission, and find formational pathways to know God more deeply. This material is adapted from The Upper Room.
Did you know? On May 20th, Christians will celebrate Pentecost, a day commemorating the events of the second chapter of Acts, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus’ disciples as they gathered in an upper room. In 1935, just weeks before the first copies of the daily devotional guide were printed, publisher Dr. Grover Emmons heard a sermon on the Acts 2 passage. He was inspired: the magazine would be called The Upper Room.
Experien
ce God’s PRESENCE
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:1-2)
THANK YOU When you give to The Upper Room, you help invite the world to be grounded in God. In 2017,
6,686
donors gave
$701,057 to support the ministries of The Upper Room. www.upperroom.org/gift
THE
UPPER ROOM
PO Box 305150 • Nashville, TN 37230-9891
3 MILLION people around the world read and pray together with The Upper Room each day.
Celebrating
80 YEARS
of El Aposento Alto, the Spanish edition of The Upper Room.
In a survey readers were asked…
“HOW did you first discover
The Upper Room daily devotional guide?”
My “ Church distributes copies.”
in “Someone my Family shared it with me.”
31% 50% 15% 4%
“
Other
As a little girl my father would always get the printed version of The Upper Room, so it became a regular reading in our home.”— Sara
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As a child in the early 1960s, I would get a copy in the narthex of our church. I loved taking it home and reading it then as I do now. ” — D. Wilcox
I saw it in a “ Waiting Room” .
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While growing up, I saw my grandfather read The Upper Room and his Bible every morning. It sat on a table next to his recliner…and still does.” — Pierce
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My precious mother read it daily for as long as I remember. What a legacy she left us.” — Brent
Try a new spiritual practice: Take a walk. Go somewhere you will encounter people: a shopping mall or a park. Become conscious of your body and breathing, and slowly shift your awareness to the people and objects around you. What catches your attention? Let the things you see become prompts for brief prayers. When you return from the walk, write about it. How did praying for the people and situations you encountered change your experience? —Thomas R. Hawkins, Every Step A Prayer (Upper Room Books, 2016).
Half a million people connect with The Upper Room via Facebook.
WHERE are they from? 26%
UNITED STATES
Donations to the international editions of The Upper Room help translate, print, and distribute the daily devotional in
100 COUNTRIES in over 30 LANGUAGES
Conversations are underway with church leaders expressing interest in a combined total of 8 new language editions.
TI C E Discover deep spiritual PRAC 2 | Your gifts help invite the world to be grounded in God.
23%
NIGERIA INDONESIA
17%
PHILIPPINES 13% OTHER
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“When I was in middle school, I wished my youth group would be more like camp. As an adult, I attended a Walk to Emmaus and wished church worship would be more impactful. During The Academy for Spiritual Formation, I wished my church would pray more deeply. My prayers and questions led to the creation of Discovery Weekend.” —Rev. Melody Traylor
An Embrace from the Church Family Melody Traylor, Founder of Discovery Weekend and Pastoral Assistant, Forest Lake UMC (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
In the late 1990s, the youth of First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, were burdened with more than the normal stresses of growing up. Their youth director was diagnosed with a blood disease and was not expected to live more than a year or two. As the associate pastor, I prayed earnestly that the church would surround the youth with God’s love. The Academy for Spiritual Formation, a ministry of The Upper Room, provided the spiritual renewal and centering I needed
during this difficult time. During my TwoYear Academy #13 (1997-98), I felt God speak to me. “Create a spiritual formation weekend for middle school youth in the local church.” I envisioned a weekend led by the high school students and supported by the whole congregation. I talked and listened to students, parents, educators, and church leaders. I asked questions. “How do you lead youth to Christ?” “Who is Christ to your youth?” “How do you train high school students to disciple middle school students?” Discovery Weekend came to life. Held in the local church, Discovery invites the entire church family to create a loving community where middle schoolers are encouraged to strengthen their faith. Our beloved youth director lived to see the launch of Discovery. When he passed away in 1999, he knew his youth were surrounded by a loving church family.
Persevere in
Since the first Discovery Weekend in 1998, over 40,000 youth and 166 churches have participated. Thousands of students and adults have discovered a deeper relationship with Christ through Discovery Weekend, including the team training before the event. I have seen high school students who thought they could never share their faith find strength to reach out and lead others to Christ. I have watched students lead parents to experience Christ. I have seen students who were making dangerous life choices repent and grow stronger. I have seen critically ill students accept Christ while their parents wept in joy. Today, Discovery Weekend is a ministry of The Upper Room, along with its influencers, Walk to Emmaus and The Academy for Spiritual Formation. I pray that many youth will be embraced by their church family for years to come. Discover more about this powerful ministry by visiting discovery.upperroom.org.
a life-long PILGRIMAGE
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Finding God’s Peace After Trauma Stephane Brooks International Spiritual Director of Emmaus Ministries
Hurricane Irma wrecked Saint Martin last September. It was a category 5 storm; the strongest hurricane to ever hit the Caribbean islands, destroying homes and hotels, cars and boats, palm trees and churches. Fear and heartbreak flooded my soul. I call St. Martin “home.” I lived there most of my life before moving to Nashville to serve on staff of The Upper Room. Those affected by the Hurricane Irma were my family and friends. The places devastated by the storms are places I know well. When friends, leaders of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas, agreed to have The Upper Room offer a retreat addressing the spiritual dimensions of recovery from trauma, I was grateful to answer the call. Publisher Stephen Bryant, along with author Kristen Vincent and Rev. Ellen Alston, a pastor serving in Lake Charles, Louisiana, joined me in this important work. We designed a“Peace, Be Still: Finding God’s Peace After Trauma,” retreat, especially for clergy and lay leaders. We wanted to offer spiritual resources for resiliency and to equip them to do the same for those in their pastoral care. Kristen Vincent, a professional retreat leader in the field of healing from trauma and the author of the A Bead and a Prayer series (Upper Room Books) served as the
team leader. Rev. Alston worked with The Upper Room to help us create resources in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005; we knew she could relate to retreat participants in a special way; we asked her to bring her wisdom and experience of not only surviving disaster, but also ministering to others at the same time. Over 50 individuals from the Caribbean islands joined us for the three-day event. We quickly realized how much each of these spiritual leaders needed time to simply exhale, so we shifted the focus of the retreat to simply create the space they needed to pause from the anxiousness of recovery. In our time together, participants wrote meditations and poetry in an attempt to share stories of faith experienced during the trauma of Hurricane Irma. We empowered them to dive deep into their own experiences and struggles. We felt that we went to the Caribbean and held this retreat at the perfect time— about three months after the storm, after
A wrecked boat demolished by Hurricane Irma on St. Martin.” and “Rev. Stephen Bryant leads a devotional writing workshop for spiritual leaders from areas affected by 2017 storms.
immediate needs had been tended to and people “had gotten beyond how to survive physically.” Most importantly, we tried to help them learn how to persevere. It is my hope that space The Upper Room creates for the “inner work” through program ministries like Walk to Emmaus and The Academy for Spiritual Formation and retreats like the one we provided in St. Martin, help sustain people to do the outer work to which they are called. I am grateful to be a part of a ministry that reminds all of us—participants and leaders alike—that God meets us in the stillness and gives us the power to continue the ministry to which we are called. This article is adapted from a story by Tim Ghianni, published by the United Methodist News Service.
Receive the POW E R
Finding Our Way Currently over 65 million people are displaced across the world. To meet a growing need, The Upper Room published Finding Our Way: Devotions for People in New Places, addressing concerns of migrants and refugees: change, loneliness, loss, diversity, and community. Available in French/English, Spanish/English, and Arabic/English, this bilingual resource helps churches welcome new people in their communities. It can serve as a tool for small group conversation, prayer practice, and outreach. Meditations in the book were previously published in The Upper Room daily devotional guide, and many were written by immigrants. Generous donors enabled the publication and printing of 20,000 copies. All editions of the devotional booklets are FREE while stock lasts. To order, call 800-972-0433. Limit 100 units per church. Regular shipping costs apply.
Find formational PATHWAYS 4 | Give today. • 1-877-899-2780 • www.upperroom.org/gift