A New Ministry, Rooted in History

How did you choose the name InnerLife?

We picked InnerLife because it beautifully displays what we aim to do. Inner life represents the heart, the core, the inner person the bible talks frequently about. We strongly believe Christianity was meant to be an inside-out force, creating deep, heart-level change—not surface-level behavior modification. We’re passionate about helping others effectively address the inner life of a person (Ephesians 3:16).

What is the history preceding InnerLife?

Our founder, Tim Rule, was a leader in Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) for over 25 years, and after working with thousands of students, he learned that a new spiritual formation pathway was needed for effectively discipling the heart. Tim and his wife Renee started doing "Aphesis Groups" in 2009, a grassroots movement giving people the space and time to deeply sort out their heart with God and others We have taken all the best learnings over those 12 years and launched a new organization called InnerLife.

What is your mission and hope for the future?

For the last 40 years, the American church has operated under a discipleship assumption – if we get people to believe the right thing, if they hear great sermons, and we get them involved in a small group or bible study – it will lead to radically transformed lives. Unfortunately, this framework is not working to create radically devoted, emotionally & relationally healthy disciples. Something else is needed for this cultural moment – so how do we address the roadblocks getting in the way of deep, transformative gospel-centered change?

InnerLife exists to help Christian leaders create a church environment that fosters deep inner healing and transformation of their people. We come alongside churches and their leaders to help them effectively address the most pressing discipleship, inner life, and relational issues of our day – allowing them to engage people’s pain with the truth of the gospel and live as missional disciples.