Henry Martyn Institute (HMI)

The Henry Martyn Institute (HMI)  was established in 1930, inspired by Henry Martyn, an Anglican priest and missionary celebrated for his contributions to translation and intercultural outreach. Initially located in Lahore (present-day Pakistan), HMI was focused on evangelism among Muslims primarily in India, and dedicated much of its early work to translating religious texts and training Christian ministers for this purpose. Over time, HMI expanded its mission to include interfaith dialogue, fostering relationships across faiths, and contributing to conflict transformation. After relocating multiple times, the institute eventually settled in Shivarampally, Hyderabad.

Vision: Promoting reconciliation between people of different faiths and cultures. 

Mission:  

• Prompting Reconciliation: To embody the church’s commitment to reconciliation, focusing on building meaningful connections between Christians and people of other faiths.
• Empowering Churches in Peacebuilding: To support churches in their unique role as communities of peace, working to bridge divides caused by religious and communal tensions, and fostering understanding and harmony in society.
• Cultivating Faith-based Understanding and Unity: To encourage a patient, sincere pursuit of deeper understanding among people of all faiths, breaking down traditional barriers to enable collaborative living and work across India and beyond.
• Enhancing Religious Understanding and Cooperation: To inspire deeper insights into religions and interfaith relationships, exploring ways for people of all backgrounds to address shared challenges together.

Important Initiatives and Notable Achievements: HMI has developed a unique method of applying its mission and vision through academic study and practical community-based action to issues of peace-building with the objective of improving relationships between divided groups and communities. This allows the institute to continually learn and develop new approaches to the sensitive issues of communal rioting and other forms of interreligious and inter-community violence. At this juncture, we are able to partner with several national and international organizations and academic institutions for interfaith relations and community development programs.

Future Objectives:

• Strengthening peace building initiatives in the community development programs.
• Educational initiatives as an interfaith model for school-aged children, undergraduate, and post-graduate students.
• Community based teams that are inclusive of all genders.
• Capacity-building programs for community staff members including training on peace-building, interfaith dialogue, women and healthcare, and gender.
• Starting a new center in communally sensitive areas of the old city.
• Interfaith exposure at the community level to the theological students, both nationally and internationally.
• Gender and development programs.
• Organizing training and capacity building programmes on peace and interfaith dialogue for NGOs interested in peace-building and reconciliation.
• Expansion of CD programmes in Telangana and four states of India.