The Upper Room is a cross-denominational daily devotional. This is a collection of writings and testimonies of life experiences of faith and the message of Christ by authors from different parts of the world. The practice of daily devotion using this little booklet helps to enrich your soul and experience God’s comfort upon you.

The history of The Upper Room
The U.S. stock market crashed in Oct 29, 1929 (the so called “Black Tuesday”) and caused global economic recession (the Great Depression) which lasted until 1933. Frances Craig, a Sunday School teacher at Travis Park Methodist Episcopal Church, in San Antonio, Texas urged her pastor, Dr. Paul Kern, to collect devotionals and put them in the church bulletins to encourage the congregation to read the Bible. Pastor Kern began writing short notes alongside the suggested daily scripture readings. Craig was very impressed by the impact of these daily devotionals.

At the same time, Dr. Grover Emmons, a clergy of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who had served in France and the Far East, was also preparing and collecting devotional materials that would help believers around the world to commit to Christ. In 1934, Emmons became the Director of Board of Home Missions of the Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

He proposed the publication of materials for devotional use and was granted the permission for quarterly publication. At that time, Frances Craig served as a volunteer director on the Committee on Devotional Literature for the Board of Home Missions. Dr. Emmons began to develop the structure of the quarterly publication. The daily devotional materials would include a quoted scripture verse, a suggested scripture reading, brief comments, a prayer, and a closing thought for the day. Individuals were invited to provide content for the daily entries and the emphasis was on personal stories of everyday people.

Emmons and Bishop Arthur J. Moore (who had served in Malaya, Sarawak and Burma in 1949-1950) then talked to pastors and leaders of all denominations throughout the United States and shared the vision for this devotional booklet: a guide to re-establish the “family altar”—the practice of daily prayer and Bible reading in the home. The new booklet would not be just a Methodist publication but a gift from Methodists to all Christians.

Emmons called this booklet The Upper Room after hearing Reverend John W. Smith’s sermon about the power of God descending on Jesus’ disciples as they prayed in an upper room. 100,000 copies of the first issue (April-May-June 1935) were sold out quickly. 160,000 copies were printed for the second issue and 211,000 for the third issue. By the seventh issue, the print run was half a million copies.

Shortly after the publication, readers began writing and sending in devotionals and stories about their personal faith. By 1938, The Upper Room was publishing meditations written by ordinary readers, not just invited writers. The circulation for January- February – March 1939 issue, less than four years after the first issue, reached an astounding one million copies.

Today, 84 years later, The Upper Room is circulating in over 100 countries around the world, translated into 35 languages with a circulation of 3 million copies. This booklet is now a common devotional guide on the kitchen and bedroom tables in many families.

Now the Upper Room Ministries has grown to include print and digital publications, a museum and chapel in Nashville, Tennessee, and ministries like The Walk to Emmaus, The Academy for Spiritual Formation, and The Upper Room Living Prayer Center.

The Upper Room was introduced into Hong Kong more than 60 years ago. However because of WWII it was suspended until January 1954. The Chinese and the bilingual Chinese-English editions have been published and distributed to Taiwan and overseas after the setting up of the United Methodist Church in Hong Kong. It also joined hands with SCAC to publish and distribute to Singapore, Malaysia and other places.

The purpose and aim of The Upper Room is not for systematic Bible study but a collection of writings from people around the world to broaden the horizons of believers, leading them to see God’s grace upon all beings that God is not limited to one place but is God of all nations and peoples.

The Upper Room practices an open door policy accepting writings of ordinary people from all over the world. It simply aims to fulfil the spiritual needs of the people and to nourish their souls by the Word of God. Although The Upper Room is not meant for systematic reading of the Bible, through daily devotion one can also be motivated through reading the spiritual experience of others and eventually learn to love God and others.

Interested readers may subscribe for The Upper Room at the Chinese Methodist Message Office.