The Church Association for the Inner Mission in Denmark

The Churchly Association for the Inner Mission in Denmark ( _da. Kirkelig Forening for den Indre Mission i Danmark), or in short Inner Mission (Danish: "Indre Mission") is a conservative Lutheran Christian organisation in Denmark. It is the largest revival movement within the Danish National Church. Despite its name, it is not possible to be a member of the Inner Mission. It is organised as a foundation, led by a self-supplying board.

History

The momevent was founded September 13, 1861 in the village of Stenlille on Zealand. The movement has its background in pietist and lutheran orthodox traditions. The term Inner Mission in the name implies domestic mission, aimed at christened people, as opposed to the many organisations dedicated to mission in foreign countries and among pagans.

The movement had great importance for temperance work, various collective initiatives in rural communities, and otherwise 'civilising' the people of the 19th century. Many poor people found in the movement a community where they could be on equal terms with more wealthy parts of society. As a movement within the National Church, the Inner Mission is believed to have halted the outflow of church members to charismatic free churches and sects. In Denmark, these never got the following they did in e.g. Sweden.

A substantial part of adherents, but not all, can be described as Bible fundamentalists. In recent years less uniform doctrines than before have emerged. Traditional dogmas were opposition to drinking, dancing, card play, swearing and Sunday work, but these are now more a matter of individual choice. As an example, a minority within the Inner Mission now find it acceptable to be a practising Christian and homosexual, something that was unthinkable a few years ago.

Traditionally, Inner Mission had its stronghold in rural western Jutland, but many communities elsewhere in Denmark, such as Haslev on Zealand and some towns, have been influenced by the movement. It is now a minority in most parishes where it is represented. Once it had about 1,000 so-called mission houses around Denmark, of which about 400 remain in use. These were (and are) meeting houses for Sunday school, prayer, spiritual and revivalist lectures, etc.

The LEGO company in the central Jutland village of Billund, its founding family Kirk Christiansen and many of its workers being adherents to the Inner Mission movement, produced a glow in the dark cross in 1952, one of the only known religious artifacts to have been produced by the company.

External links

* [http://www2.indremission.dk/site/Udenlandske_sider/Engelsk/ Indre Mission (in English)]
* [http://www.brickfetish.com/toys/cross.html Indre Mission Cross]