The year was 1932, and Edith had just graduated from high school. She attended a meeting at her Presbyterian Church outside Philadelphia where a Unitarian minister spoke on the topic, “How I know Jesus is not the Son of God and how I know the Bible is not the Word of God.” After he finished, she stood to offer a rebuttal, but a college student on the other side of the room beat her to it, “My name is Francis Schaeffer, and I want to say that I know Jesus is the Son of God and He is also my Savior.” Edith wondered to herself in the moment, “Who is that boy?” When it was Edith’s turn to speak, she cited several reputable biblical scholars who articulated an alternative view to the one espoused by the liberal minister. As she spoke, Francis wondered, “Who is that girl?” They started dating that same evening and married three years later.
In 1955, Francis and Edith Schaeffer (1914-2013) created a study center in Switzerland where people could seek honest answers to sincere questions. They called it L’Abri Fellowship, the French word for shelter. They opened their chalet home in a remote Swiss village for people seeking refuge from the pressures of a relentlessly secular age. Edith created a warm, hospitable environment for honest inquiry and learning. They were a couple devoted to prayer, as expressed in Edith’s book, Life of Prayer. She said that prayer is active engagement with God, who is both personal and there for us (Francis’ first book was titled The God Who is There). A portion of a prayer from her book leads us to pray: