How The Upper Room can fuel new, virtual, faith communities

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

— Acts 2:42 (NRSV)

I serve as the Director of Community Engagement and Church Planting Resources for Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my team and the pastors we work with are finding creative ways to continue creating new places for new faces. While we cannot come together physically, we can meet virtually via technology. 

In the July-August 2019 edition of The Upper Room, I wrote a short article about how The Upper Room daily devotional magazine has been used to start new faith communities. Each issue of The Upper Room includes “An Easy Plan to Use The Upper Room in Small Groups” (found in the end pages of the magazine). The “Easy Plan” includes prompting questions for the Wednesday devotions each month. These questions are available online here on The Upper Room blog.  Of course, the daily devotions themselves are available online as well at www.upperroom.org. By using the devotions for Wednesday, regardless of which day of the week you meet, you could start a new, virtual, small group or house church. 

We remember that in the Book of Acts, early Christian groups “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” While we may not be able to break bread together in person, we could do so in a virtual environment. Invite a circle of friends or neighbors to a virtual meeting, giving them the log-in information to join the meeting. If a video meeting is a challenge or too daunting, even a phone call with a friend or conference call with a small group can work. When you convene, welcome everyone to the meeting. Use the guidelines published by The Upper Room for meeting in small groups. Follow the prompting questions that correspond to a Wednesday devotion. Let us know if in the comment section below if you already have such a group or plan to start one. We would love to hear your stories.

Prayer: Help us, O Lord, to find new ways to meet together when we cannot meet in person. Help us to support one another through phone calls, virtual meetings, cards and notes for we know you have plans for us for a future with hope. Amen.

Douglas Ruffle (Tennessee, USA)