THE UPPER ROOM Manual for Leading Devotional Writing Workshops Manual for Leading Devotional Writing Workshops. 2015 The Upper Room Magazine, P.O. Box 340004, Nashville, TN 37203-0004. devotional.upperroom.org
Greetings from Nashville, Tennessee (USA)! It is a blessing to be your partner in ministry. With this manual, you will 1) Learn about devotional writing and 2) Learn how to plan and lead a writing workshop for your community. It is our goal to have 30% or more of our meditations in the devotional guide come from international writers. We hope this manual will provide the tools and information needed to help you encourage people in your community to share their stories with The Upper Room. Efforts like yours help us to include international voices in each issue of the magazine. The handouts and materials in this manual are available for you to translate, print and distribute. We encourage you to make adaptations as appropriate to your setting when using the materials in this manual and/or when leading a writing workshop. Meditations may be submitted online at http://submissions.upperroom.org/ for consideration for publishing in the US-English edition of The Upper Room daily devotional guide. With blessings and thanks, Lindsay Gray, editorial director of magazines at The Upper Room ureditorial@upperroom.org 1
An Introduction to The Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide People just like you have been writing meditations for The Upper Room daily devotional guide for over 80 years, people just like you who are listening to God and trying to live by what they hear. The Upper Room is built on a worldwide community of Christians who share their faith with one another. The Upper Room is meant for an international, interdenominational audience. We want to encourage Christians in their personal life of prayer and discipleship. We seek to build on what unites us as believers and to link believers together in prayer around the world. Millions of people use the magazine each day. Meditations that are chosen for publication in The Upper Room are sent around the world to be translated into more than 30 languages. Those who read the day s meditation and pray the prayer join with others in over 100 countries around the world, reading the same passage of scripture and bringing the same concerns before God. 2
Tips for Devotional Writing Have God s care and presence become real for you in your interaction with others? Has the Bible given you guidance and helped you see God at work? Has the meaning of scripture become personal for you as you reflected on it? Then you have something to share in a meditation! Where to begin: Begin in your own relationship with God. Christians believe God speaks to us and guides us as we study the Bible and pray. Good meditations are closely tied to scripture and show how it has helped someone understand a specific situation. Good meditations make the message of the Bible come alive. Good devotional writing is first of all authentic. It connects real events of daily life with the ongoing activity of God. It comes across as the direct, honest statement of personal faith in Christ and how that faith grows. It is one believer sharing with another an insight or struggle about what it means to live faithfully. Good devotional writing uses sensory details what color it was, how high it bounced, what it smelled like. Though the events of daily life may seem mundane, actually they provide the richest store of sensory details. And when we connect God s activity to common things, each encounter with those things can serve as a reminder of God s work. Good devotional writing is exploratory. It searches and considers and asks questions. It examines the faith without knowing in advance what all the answers will be. It is open to God s continuing self-revelation through scripture, people and events. Good writing chronicles growth and change, seeing God behind both. How to start writing a meditation: When you find yourself in the middle of some situation thinking, That s how God is, too! or, That s like that story in the Bible, that can become a meditation. Excellent ideas come from reading and meditating on scripture, looking for connections between it and daily life. When you see such a helpful connection, here s a simple formula for getting it on paper: 1. Retell the Bible teaching or summarize the passage briefly. 2. Describe the situation that you link to the Bible passage, using a specific incident. Write down as many concrete, sensory details of the real-life situation as you can. 3. Tell how you or a reader can apply this spiritual truth in days to come. What do you plan to do in light of this experience? What do you hope a reader will do after reading your meditation? 4. After a few days, look carefully at what you have written. Meditations should be about 300 words long, so decide which details best convey your message, and delete the others. Ask yourself whether this insight will be helpful to believers in other countries and other situations. If you feel that it will, add any elements that are necessary to The Upper Room s format. Then you are ready to submit your meditation for consideration for possible use in The Upper Room. 3
Writer s Workshop Outline The following is a basic outline of a writer s workshop to help you develop and generate ideas for how to lead one in your community. Materials: Copies of The Upper Room for each participant, paper, pens or pencils, Bibles, copies of any handouts that will be used Opening Prayer, Welcome, Introductions Welcome participants to the workshop. Share a little information about yourself and your connection to The Upper Room. Ask others to introduce themselves to the group. Pray together, asking God to be present in your time together. Read a Meditation from The Upper Room Read aloud a meditation from The Upper Room. Discuss with the group what they like about the meditation, about each different part (scripture, Thought for the Day, etc.). Discuss what makes the meditation helpful or powerful. Share Information about The Upper Room The Upper Room is read by millions of people around the world in more than 30 languages and in over 100 countries. All meditations in The Upper Room are written by people just like you. We depend on people submitting meditations to publish the magazine. The Upper Room is always looking for new writers to submit meditations. A strong meditation will: share a personal story or experience make a connection to scripture or Christian life have an application to daily life for readers. This third element is often the hardest. Ask yourself: What do you hope a reader will do after reading your meditation? Practice Writing a Meditation Using the handout Reflecting on Bible Reading ask participants to try writing a meditation. Collect any completed meditations and submit them to The Upper Room (http://submissions.upperroom.org/) and encourage participants to keep writing and submitting meditations. Close with Prayer 4
Writing for The Upper Room Presentation Basics The following is a model for presenting The Upper Room daily devotional guide in lecture form within a devotional writing context. This is general information that should be shared at any meeting where people are learning how to write for The Upper Room. The Upper Room is a daily devotional magazine that is read by millions of people around the world each day. It is printed in more than 30 languages and distributed in over 100 countries. The meditations in the magazine are written by ordinary people, and we depend on people submitting meditations to publish the magazine. We do not have staff writers. Each meditation in The Upper Room has several key elements: Title - Titles should be short and interesting, but puns or wordplay cause problems for translators around the world. Longer Scripture Reading - 5-15 verses of scripture that relates to the theme or topic of the meditation Quoted Scripture - a single verse that helps to highlight the main idea of the meditation A strong meditation will: share a personal story or experience make a connection to scripture or Christian life have an application to daily life for readers. This third element is often the hardest. Ask yourself: What do you hope a reader will do after reading your meditation? Thought for the Day - a single sentence that helps a reader remember the main point of the meditation Prayer - a prayer related to the meditation that helps a reader close their devotional time Prayer focus - invites the reader to pray for a person or group of people that day. Remember, when you pray using The Upper Room, you are praying with 3 million people around the world. Each of these elements are carefully chosen and put together for each day to help the reader structure devotional time. We hope that by using The Upper Room, readers will find a rhythm for their daily spiritual practice. Share and talk through selected handouts. Depending on the time you have for your presentation, you may want to share and discuss one or more of the following handouts and/or pages included in this manual: Tips for Devotional Writing How to Submit Meditations Reflecting on Bible Reading Writers Guidelines http://devotional.upperroom.org/guidelines 5
How To Use This Magazine Each Day* Before you begin: Sit quietly for 30 seconds or so to settle your spirit. Take a few deep breaths and get comfortable. Read: Open your Bible and read the portion of scripture suggested beside the date. After you read, pause to think about the passage. What comes to mind? What in it got your attention? Quoted verse: The quoted verse relates to the central point of the day s meditation. Read it slowly and think about its meaning for you. Once or twice a week you might memorize a quoted verse. Story : These meditations are written by people from around the world. After you read the main part of the page, ask yourself, How do this person s words connect with my life? Prayer: To end your quiet time, pray the prayer at the bottom of the page. You may want to add to it, mentioning people or situations that come to mind during your reflection. Thought for the Day: This element invites you to respond or sums up an idea from the day s reading. Repeat the thought a few times and recall it throughout the day to remind yourself of what you heard from God. Prayer Focus: This suggests a subject for continuing prayer after your devotional time, joining with believers around the world in doing so. With small groups: See pages 72-76 of the US-English edition of The Upper Room daily devotional guide for a model. 6
Reflecting on Bible Reading 1. What Bible passage did you read or hear? 2. What word or phrase in the Bible passage spoke to you and drew your attention? 3. What other scripture verses, stories, or characters came to mind as you thought about the passage? (If you discussed the passage in a group, include other stories or verses mentioned by others.) 4. What situation in your life do you link with the passage (or did you talk about in the group)? What feelings and hopes are you aware of? Describe that situation the people involved, the concerns: 5. What guidance, wisdom, comfort or invitation did you hear from God in connection with the situation that came to mind? 6. How might what you heard from God apply to people in other situations? 7. What do you want to say to God or ask of God in response to your time with scripture today? Write your prayer here: 2011 The Upper Room Magazine, P.O. Box 340004, Nashville, TN 37203-0004. Created by Mary Lou Redding. 7
Reflecting on Personal Experience 1. Recall a recent event where you saw, felt, or experienced God s presence. Describe the event. 2. List some details of this experience that caught your attention or surprised you. 3. What other experiences have you had that remind you of this event? Have you heard other people describe anything like this encounter with God? What makes this experience unique? 4. What person, passage, or story from scripture do you link with your experience? (If you discussed this experience in a group, what Biblical references did others mention?) What feelings and hopes are you aware of in your own experience and in the scripture? 5. What guidance, wisdom, comfort, or invitation did you hear from God in connection with your experience and the scripture that came to mind? 6. How might what you heard from God apply to people in other situations? 7. What do you want to say to God or ask of God in response to your time with scripture today? Write your prayer here: 2015 The Upper Room Magazine, P.O. Box 340004, Nashville, TN 37203-0004. Created by Lindsay L. Gray. Adapted from Reflecting on Bible Reading by Mary Lou Redding. 8
Questions for Peer Review 1. What is your favorite part of this meditation? What has the author done well? 2. What do you want to know more about? What do you wish the author had included? 3. What do you think the main message of the meditation is? 4. How would you apply this message to your life? 5. Other ideas/questions/suggestions? 9
How to Submit Meditations Meditations may be submitted either by postal mail or online. **Please note: Meditations submitted online will receive a quicker response and will be entered into the process for consideration more quickly. Online: http://submissions.upperroom.org/ Postal mail: Editorial Office THE UPPER ROOM Magazine P.O. Box 340004 Nashville, TN 37203-0004 USA If you are submitting meditations on behalf of a writer, please include the name, address and email address (if available) for the author in the online form or on the hard copy. Meditations submitted without contact information will not be considered for publication. 10