Less than a week after Edith Dryden first arrived at L’Abri Fellowship in England, a nasty stomach bug hit the red brick manor house near Portsmouth.
Edith Dryden, a newcomer to the community, was one of the few spared from nausea and vomiting, so she got to work. The 5-foot-4 woman bustled among students lying in the hallway—caring for the sick, cleaning and changing sheets.
“It was the willpower of her hospitality that kept her from getting sick, and she took care of everyone,” said her husband, Dr. Jeff Dryden, professor of biblical studies.
Hospitality is more than a theological conviction; to Edith Dryden, it is a way of life.
“It’s essential to her being,” her husband said. “She never decided to do it; it’s just a part of who she is.”
With her soft blue sofa and box of tissues not far from reach, Edith Dryden’s door in the chapel department is always open, and she invites students to come in, whether they are wrestling with doubts or simply working through transitions in life.
She recently joined the chapel department as the associate director of women’s ministry and discipleship. As Edith Dryden has transitioned into her new job over the past three months, her work has focused on guiding 26 discipleship assistants (DAs) who facilitate Bible studies on each hall of the residence buildings.
While success is not measured in numbers, Bible studies have continued to be well-attended since Edith Dryden has taken over this role.
“She’s doing a really good job equipping discipleship assistants,” said Kathryn Wieldraayer, the chapel department coordinator. “It appears to me that [Bible studies] are alive and well, and I can see how much work she puts in.”
Edith Dryden’s passion for studying the Bible, asking deep questions, and guiding others in their faith is a journey that began in the foothills of South Africa.
Her parents were sent out from Holland as missionaries to the Zulu people. As a young girl, Edith Dryden often traveled with her dad to remote valleys, worshiping with people in little churches.
“I loved watching my dad tell stories from Scripture in such a way … where you could picture yourself in the story and vicariously live in the shoes of the characters,” she said, “so that you could recognize their heart change and be invited to the heart change yourself.”
After studying music, philosophy and English literature in northern South Africa, Edith Dryden came to the United States where she attended Covenant Seminary. She completed her masters in theology and discovered her love for apologetics while studying philosophy, later pursuing an advanced masters of philosophy from the Free University in Amsterdam.
While she was at the Free University, Edith Dryden struggled with feeling isolated in her faith because she didn’t know any Christians there.
“Increasingly I realized my heart lay in longing to be able to help people realize … what it means to have their hearts molded by God and be drawn into relationship with Him,” she said.
This led her to English L’Abri, where Edith Dryden served for the next 20 years.
“L’Abri is a shelter, a hub where we invite people who are seeking to find out what gives meaning and hope in life and seeking honest answers to honest questions,” said Edith Dryden.
Working at L’Abri was formative in her own spiritual life and allowed Edith Dryden to disciple others in their faith. She is a woman driven by joy and passion, “a thirst for life” she calls it, which seeps into everything she does.
Chaplain Grant Lowe explains that he sees this joy played out in her ever-present gratitude.
“She often talks about how grateful she is for the way that God has been faithful in her life,” he said, “that He brought her here, that he provided a husband, a job—and none of these things that she expected.”
Edith Dryden first met Dr. Dryden during her time at Covenant Seminary and later worked with him for a few years at English L’Abri. In the summer of 2023, they reconnected and got married at the end of that year.
In January, she found out that Stephanie Formenti was leaving the chapel department to serve as the new vice president, so Edith Dryden prayed about the potential position for a week.
“Standing alongside people to work out … what it looks like to integrate their faith in all areas of life … and what it looks like to constantly be in prayer with the Lord through thick and thin [is] what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years,” said Edith Dryden, “and to find a job where I can stand alongside women in the same way, to continue what I had been doing and to work where my husband is working—I find that very precious.”