For the Sake of the World: The Upper Room and the Ongoing Spiritual Formation Movement

The Protestant Spiritual Formation Movement is an ongoing movement of God’s people seeking to faithfully respond to the movement of God’s Spirit.

The Upper Room was invited to join a select group of other historically prominent spiritual formation organizations and contemporary leaders in Christian spiritual formation to contribute to a special issue of the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care. For the issue, Johnny Sears, Executive Director of The Upper Room Programs, and Lindsay Gray, Executive Director of The Upper Room Editions, wrote For the Sake of the World, offering a detailed reflection on The Upper Room’s history and evolution as well as its influence on and ongoing contributions to the Protestant Spiritual Formation Movement. 

“For ninety years, The Upper Room has borne witness to the power of ordinary people of faith gathering to pray, listen, and respond to God together,” Johnny Sears writes in the conclusion. “From a simple devotional guide to a global network of ministries, it has helped give shape to the Protestant Spiritual Formation Movement and offered pathways of depth, renewal, and empowerment in a world often marked by anxiety, uncertainty, and fragmentation.”

Read the full article: For the Sake of the World: The Upper Room and the Ongoing Spiritual Formation Movement.

The purpose of this supplemental issue of the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care is to reflect on the past, attend to the present, and lean into the future of the Protestant Spiritual Formation Movement. The central conviction of this project is that God’s people cooperate better with the movement of God’s Spirit in our local times and places as we broaden our perspective and attend to the Spirit’s work across time and place. Read the full issue, including contributions from other thinkers and organizations, online at conversatio.org.