Children's Special Service Mission was the original name, from 1867, of the organisation now called

Scripture Union Scripture Union (SU) is an international, interdenominational, evangelical Christian organisation. It was founded in 1867, and works in partnership with individuals and churches across the world. The organisation's stated aim is to use the Bibl ...

. Begun by Thomas 'Pious' Hughes and Josiah Spiers in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, this

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

movement was less formal than the

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

s of the day and attracted children who in turn brought their friends. Several notable people have participated in this mission of the likes of

Stanley Andrew Morrison Stanley Andrew Morrison (March 25, 1894 – July 14, 1956) was an Irish religious missionary known for his contributions in pushing for religious freedom and coordinating humanitarian efforts in the Middle East. He began his work for the Church M ...

. CSSM grew into an international movement that included missions in buildings, and beach missions.

Beach Mission

Arguably the most visible mission operated by CSSM and now Scripture Union has been the beach mission. Volunteers from different Christian churches go on mission together, set up large tents at popular seaside sites where people spend summer holidays, typically for two weeks. Missioners typically live in tent and

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel * Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop * Caravan (tra ...

s, in accommodation

tent A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using g ...

s, and have marquees that are used for daytime and night meetings and activities for the children and adults. In certain towns, like Sheringham in Norfolk, the volunteers lived in large houses offered free by the owners. A typical week day would start at 8.00am with 'Gold Diggers' where a volunteer and a small class of children would meet and discuss a short section of the Bible. From this section everyone would then pick a 'password' - which was a sentence or part thereof of the section. Throughout the day attending children and volunteers would challenge each other to remember both the password and where in the Bible it came from. Later on in the morning there would be a service on the beach. The pulpit would be made of sand and a text would be added made up of brightly painted metal bottle tops. Instead of hymns, short choruses would be sung by all those attending. A story would be told by the volunteer chosen to host the service of the day. Some beach missions also make use of nearby church halls for teenage activities, such as a coffee shop or to stage a dance.

Missioners

Participants are organised under a leader whose task it is to manage the camp and its activities. Sub-leaders take responsibility for various aspects, such as: young children's activities, Primary School age activities, teenage activities, tents, cooking, cleaning, materials (printed and otherwise), music, and so on.

Notes

External links

{{commonscatinline, Scripture Union Organizations established in 1867 Evangelical parachurch organizations