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Diakonhjemmet
Diakonhjemmet was established in 1890 by the priest and editor Hartvig Halvorsen (1854–1910), who was also central to the establishment of the Faculty of Theology.
He established a small nursing home/hospital where prospective deacons could receive their nursing education and where patients would be treated skillfully and in the spirit of Christ's love. This was 22 years after the female version had started at the Deaconess House. The purpose of the deacons was to enter fields of work that required strength and "courage."
Low-Church Revival
Diakonhjemmet grew out of the low-church revival that characterized Norway in the 1800s. In the tradition of Hans Nielsen Hauge, they preached not only personal and heartfelt faith in Jesus and conversion. The revival also included a concern for orphans, the hungry, the poor, and the morally depraved.
It was partly inspired by developments in German church and inner mission life in the early 1800s. The founders of Diakonhjemmet advocated for a rebirth of what they called the most beautiful quality of the early church: Diakonia, the congregations' efforts for people in need. Diakonhjemmet was to become a powerhouse that would mobilize a large-scale church rescue effort for people in vulnerable life situations.
In the beginning, there were 10 deacon students
It started with ten deacon students at a monastery-like nursing home in Kristiania. The deacon education was five years long and integrated nursing, social work, and theology. This was the country's second nursing education and the first nursing education for men. A hospital was also established at Diakonhjemmet. The deacons otherwise served throughout the country in hospitals, in parish care, as company deacons (in mining, industry, shipping, fishing villages), in institutions for alcoholics, and in psychiatric institutions.
The Norwegian Deacon Association found its special task in the care of people with developmental disabilities and established and operated Nærlandheimen from 1948 to 1991. In 1969, the Deacon Association established the country's second social educator education in connection with Nærlandheimen.
The thousands of deacons who have been educated at the institution over time did not receive the reception and the space in the church that the founders had hoped for. It was not until the 1980s that the establishment of deacon positions in congregations in the Church of Norway gained momentum. But the broad, five-year deacon education opened many doors for the deacons within the public health and social services and within occupational health services.