History
The movement was initially founded 13 September 1861 in the village of Stenlille on Zealand. The movement's origins derive from pietist and Lutheran orthodox traditions. The term Inner Mission implies a domestic mission targeted at those who are already Christians, as opposed to the many organisations dedicated to undertaking missions in foreign countries and among pagans.
The movement was influential in temperance work, various collective initiatives in rural communities, and other efforts to 'civilise' 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 members of society, as it stressed Christian fellowship through a variety of group activities. 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 achieved the following they did in other countries, for example Sweden.
The founding family of the Lego company and many of its workers in the central Jutland village of Billund were adherents of the Inner Mission movement. In 1952 the company produced a glow-in-the-dark cross, one of its only known religious artifacts.
Contemporary movement
A substantial number of adherents, but not all, can be described as Bible fundamentalists. The movement also stressed Lutheran teachings, and so was not ecumenical. In recent years, its doctrines have become less monolithic. Its traditional dogmas condemned drinking, dancing, card playing, swearing and working on a Sunday.
Traditionally, the Inner Mission's stronghold was 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 minor influence in most parishes where it is represented. Once there were 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. Today, the headquarters of the movement is located in Fredericia.
The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic area and the people living there—the Danes—as early as 500 AD. These early documents include the writings of Jordanes and Procopius. With the Christianization of the Danes c. 960 AD, it is clear that there existed a kingship. King Frederik X can trace his lineage back to the Viking kings Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth from this time, thus making the Monarchy of Denmark the oldest in Europe. The area now known as Denmark has a rich prehistory, having been populated by several prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years, since the end of the last ice age.
Ecumenism – also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalism – is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ecumenical is thus applied to any non-denominational or inter-denominational initiative which encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches. Ecumenical dialogue is a central feature of contemporary ecumenism.
Pietism, also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life.
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Hans Kirk was a Danish lawyer, journalist and celebrated author, who penned the best-selling novel of all-time in his native Denmark, The Fishermen (1928). From 1926 to 1928 he was among the contributors of Kritisk Revy, an architecture magazine. Kirk was a long-time Communist Party member in Denmark and remained active until his death. In 1941, during the German occupation, Kirk and hundreds of others were arrested without charge by the Danish police in a sweep against communists and communist sympathizers. He was imprisoned and detained at the Danish prison camp of Horserød, but managed to escape in 1943, just in time to avoid deportation to the German death camps.
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The Bethania Mission House, Esbjerg is located in the centre of Esberg, southwest Denmark. Inspired by Italian architecture, its main gable has a rose window flanked by spires.
