The Inner Mission (german: Innere Mission, also translated as Home Mission) was and is a movement of German

evangelists Evangelists may refer to: * Evangelists (Christianity), Christians who specialize in evangelism * Four Evangelists, the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament * ''The Evangelists'', a controversial play See also * Evangelist ( ...

, set up by

Johann Hinrich Wichern Johann Hinrich Wichern (21 April 1808 Hamburg – 7 April 1881 Hamburg) was a founder of the Home Mission (also translated as Inner Mission; German: ''Innere Mission'') movement in Germany. Biography Johann was born into a family of poverty, toget ...

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...

in 1848 based on a model of

Theodor Fliedner Theodor Fliedner (21 January 18004 October 1864) was a German Lutheran minister and founder of Lutheran deaconess training. In 1836, he founded Kaiserswerther Diakonie, a hospital and deaconess training center. Together with his wives Friederi ...

. It quickly spread from Germany to other countries. Like other

missions Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion * Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

, the Inner Mission sought a "rebirth" of Christianity, by means of the doctrine of "brotherly love" and a social programme of charity (social service) and Christian education. An inner mission or rescue mission is a project set up by Christian groups to aid the poor and sick in the home country of the group. The word inner reflects that mission is within a single country's boundaries – generally a "mission" is presumed to be overseas.

Specific inner missions

The

City Mission The City Mission movement started in Glasgow in January 1826 when David Nasmith founded the Glasgow City Mission (Scotland). It was an interdenominational agency working alongside churches and other Christian agencies to provide for the spirit ...

movement, with the

London City Mission London City Mission was set up by David Nasmith on 16 May 1835 in the Hoxton area of east London. The first paid missionary was Lindsay Burfoot. Today it is part of the wider City Mission Movement The City Mission movement started in Glasgo ...

and the

New York City Rescue Mission New York City Rescue Mission, now a controlled affiliate of The Bowery Mission, was founded in 1872 by Jerry McAuley and his wife, Maria with the purpose of providing a soup kitchen and homeless shelter. History Homelessness was on the rise i ...

and the

Wesley Mission Wesley Mission is a name used by three independent Uniting Church groups which are a part of the Uniting Missions Network of UnitingCare Australia. These predominantly grew out of inner city ''Central Methodist Missions'' of the Methodist Church ...

in Australia are examples. Having grown up in Germany, birthplace of the movement, Rev.

Johannes Lauritzen Johannes Rudolph Lauritzen (February 21, 1845 – September 26, 1923) was a German-American Lutheran clergyman. Biography Johannes Lauritzen was born in Bohemia, Germany on February 21, 1845. He emigrated to the United States in 1870, and became ...

served Lutheran churches in Knoxville, TN and established a rescue mission there about 1890. His congregational work and his work with the poor and imprisoned led him to produce a translation of the New Testament that was aimed at people with less education and exposure to Biblical concepts. The Danish version was, for a time, run by

Vilhelm Beck Vilhelm is a masculine given name, the Scandinavian form of William and Wilhelm. Notable people with the name include: * Vilhelm Ahlmann (1852-1928), Danish-Swedish architect * Vilhelm Andersen (1864–1953), Danish author, literary historian and ...

Notes

References

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External links

Association of Gospel Rescue Missions

New York City Rescue Mission

The EURopean network of Inner Mission Movements (founded 1984)
Christian missions History of Protestantism in Germany {{Germany-hist-stub