Throughout the year, we have continued to celebrate the 90th anniversary of The Upper Room daily devotional guide. I often find myself thinking, Did Frances Craig and her Sunday school class of 100 women ever imagine the reach and breadth of their dream for a daily devotional guide? These women from Travis Park Methodist Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas, dreamed and prayed The Upper Room into existence 90 years ago. We are the legacy of their dreams and prayers.
It is my joy and privilege to be a living legacy of this dream. Nearly every day, I hear from a donor or a reader of The Upper Room about how the day’s devotional moved them. What I enjoy the most about The Upper Room—where I find the heart of its uniqueness—is that everyday Christians around the world are writing the stories. Every day, no matter if you live in Argentina, the Philippines, South Africa, Norway, or the United States, you are reading the same meditation and scripture, lifting up the same people in prayer, dwelling on the same prayer focus. It is powerful; it is uniting; it is transformational.
For 90 years, God has used this devotional guide and the ministries birthed from it—Emmaus Ministries, The Academy for Spiritual Formation, Upper Room Books, Chaplains’ Ministry—to touch millions of lives. God will do the same for the next 90 years. Indeed, God will do a new thing through the various ministries as they adapt to the needs of future generations.
“I am about to do a new thing . . . do you not perceive it?”
This Advent, as we anticipate and reflect on God’s promise of new life, I invite you to read The Upper Room with new eyes. Pray for the writer of the day; pray for their country. If you have young children or grandchildren, use it as a fun geography lesson to find out more about the writer’s country or state and its people. And reflect and pray about where you fit into this new thing God is doing through The Upper Room. Do you feel compelled to write and submit a meditation? Do you feel compelled to support one of our ministries with a financial gift or to increase what you already give? Do you feel called to go on a Walk to Emmaus or attend an Academy for Spiritual Formation retreat? Do you want to go deeper in your spiritual life through one of our books? There is so much to consider and explore as God does a new thing through the next 90 years of The Upper Room.
Dare to dream like Frances Craig and her Sunday school class. The world needs more dreamers, more torchbearers of hope. Humble dreams can beget new life that transforms the world.
“I am about to do a new thing . . . do you not perceive it?”
Nicole Curtis serves as Director of Fund Development for The Upper Room.
This article first appeared in the Advent 2025 Fellowship Focus newsletter for friends and donors of The Upper Room. Click the image below to view the complete newsletter.
What “new thing” might God be inviting you to notice this season?
What voices or prayers have shaped your faith most this year?
How do you perceive hope in unlikely places right now?
What insights or practices help you enter this Advent season with hope?
Share your responses with others in the comments below!
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