The Story of the Methodist Episcopal Church (3)
IN 1995, I joined the first tour group from East Malaysia to visit the Holy Land. In Jerusalem we went to the Monastery of St Mark, where 2000 years ago, Jesus and his 12 disciples sat down for the Last Supper. The Monastery of St Mark, also known as a Cenacle or Upper Room, was also the location for many other events in the New Testament, for example: Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus appearing after his resurrection, the disciples gathering after Jesus’ ascension to pray and choose Matthias as an apostle, the Holy Spirit descending on the disciples on Pentecost, etc.
The second floor in this building is known as “The Upper Room”, as mentioned in Mark 14:15, Luke 22:12, and Acts 1:13. Here on Pentecost, the disciples received the Holy Spirit.
The Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church of USA uses the name “The Upper Room” for their published devotional materials. This “Upper Room” is a place where God manifest his presence and where strength can be found, hence if Christians communicate closely with God and practice daily devotions, they will find strength for a fruitful life. The publishing rights for the Chinese version of “Upper Room” was obtained by Hong Kong in the 1950s. However they did not use a translation of the original name, using a title meaning “Daily Devotional” instead. >>>
The main purpose of Discipleship Ministries is to provide for and nurture the growth of Christians’ spiritual lives, so that Christians will have a more holistic understanding and experience of God. Besides the Upper Room, first published in 1935 (the Upper Room ministry is part of Discipleship Ministries), they have also branched out into publishing other types of books, intercession and prayer ministries, “listening” ministries, and love God and love people ministries, bringing together various denominations so that the lives of Christians of all ages are changed as they grow in deeper faith. These new lives, rooted in Christ, are then able to share their experience of God’s love and guidance, and encourage believers everywhere to continue changing the world through spiritual actions.
The Upper Room
chapel
The headquarters of the Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church of USA is located in Nashville, Tennessee. The international ministry of the Upper Room is in the same building, which also houses a small chapel and a Christian art museum. Every year it attracts many tourists. On Wednesdays, different speakers from all over the world are invited to preach in the morning service.
In this issue, let us first visit this “Upper Room chapel”. Its pulpit follows the design of pulpits from various churches where John Wesley preached, including the John Street Methodist Church in New York City, St George United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, and St Philip’s Church in Charleston, South Carolina (from when Wesley was a missionary in Georgia). On the front of the pulpit are the Greek letters “Chi Rho” (XP). It is an early Christian symbol taken from the Greek word “Χ Ρ Ι ΣΤ Ο Σ”, that is, “Christ”.
Behind the pulpit is an eye-catching 8-by-17-foot wood carving of the Last Supper. This chapel, opened in 1953, presents Da Vinci’s Last Supper as a wood carving, which has become the focal point. This carving was the work of 50 wood carvers under the leadership of Ernest Pellegrini and took 14 months to complete. The focus of the wood carving is Jesus, but his face is described as the most sorrowful face in the world, because it is the eve of his arrest by Roman soldiers. He is facing both external and internal troubles. In fact, his expression is saying to his disciples, “One of you will betray me”.
From the left in the wood carving are Bartholomew, James, Andrew, Judas, Peter, and John. From the right are Thomas, Phillip, Simon, and Matthew. John is described as the disciple whom Jesus loved, hence in the picture he is seated to the left of Jesus, conversing with Peter who is leaning towards him. Sitting between them, Judas is holding the money bag. He has upset the salt and he looks nervous.
Virtual
prayer room
Next to the chapel is a small prayer room, also called the “virtual prayer room”; it is a place to pray to God alone. This room is dedicated in memory of the “Upper Room” founder Dr Grover C. Emmons. Here, one can intercede online, provide helpful prayers and organizations, and post prayers on the prayer wall. Though it is a virtual prayer room, here people can also pray in quiet. On the altar are two small angels based on the Italian artist Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, drawn by Boston’s Gonippi Raggi. On the guard rail before the altar are inscribed the Greek letters for the abbreviated form of the word Jesus: IHC. The prayer room is open every Monday to Thursday from 8am to 4.30pm, and Fridays from 8am to 12.30pm. (To be continued, in the next issue we will introduce the stained glass window in the chapel – “World Christian Fellowship”)