The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is the oldest

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

mission organisation in the world, though it is now more ecumenical in outlook and publishes books for a wide range of Christian denominations. It is currently the leading publisher of Christian books in the United Kingdom and the third oldest independent publisher in the UK.

Mission

The SPCK has a vision of a world in which everyone is transformed by Christian knowledge. Its mission is to lead the way in creating books and resources that help everyone to make sense of faith. Education has always been a core part of SPCK's mission.

History

Foundation

On 8 March 1698, Rev.

Thomas Bray Thomas Bray (1656 or 165815 February 1730) was an English clergyman and abolitionist who helped formally establish the Church of England in Maryland, as well as the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge and Society for the Propa ...

met a small group of friends, including Sir

Humphrey Mackworth Sir Humphrey Mackworth (Jan 1657–1727) was a British industrialist and politician. He was involved in a business scandal in the early 18th century and was a founding member of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Early history Mack ...

, Colonel

Maynard Colchester Maynard Colchester (4 March 1665 – 1715), of Westbury Court and the Wilderness, was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1701 to 1708. Colchester was the eldest son of Sir Duncombe Colchester ...

Lord Guilford Earl of Guilford is a title that has been created three times in history. The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1660 (as Countess of Guilford) for Elizabeth Boyle. She was a daughter of William Feilding, 1st ...

and John Hooke at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

. These men were concerned by what they saw as the "growth in vice and immorality" in Britain at the time which was owing to the "gross ignorance of the principles of the Christian religion". They were also committed to promoting "religion and learning in the plantations abroad". They resolved to meet on a regular basis to devise strategies on how they could increase knowledge of Anglican Christianity. They decided that these aims could best be achieved by publishing and distributing Christian literature and encouraging Christian education at all levels. SPCK was involved in tackling a number of social and political issues of the time. It actively campaigned for penal reform, provided for the widows and children of clergy who died whilst overseas and provided basic education for slaves in the Caribbean. One of the key priorities for Bray and his friends was to build libraries in market towns. In its first two hundred years, the Society founded many

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

s for poor children in the seven to 11 age group. The Society also provided teacher training.

Evangelism overseas

SPCK has worked overseas since its foundation. The initial focus was the British colonies in the Americas. Libraries were established for the use of clergy and their parishioners, and books were frequently shipped across the Atlantic by sail throughout the 18th century. By 1709, SPCK was spreading further afield: a printing press and trained printer were sent to Tranquebar in East India to assist in the production of the first translation of the Bible into

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

. This was accomplished by the German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

missionaries

Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg Bartholomeus or Bartholomaeus or Barthelomaeus is a masculine Latin given name, the Latin equivalent of Bartholomew. The German cognate is Bartholomäus. Notable people with the name include: * Bartholomeus Amadeus degli Amidei (died 1266), Ital ...

and Heinrich Pluetschau from the Danish-Halle Mission. As the British Empire grew in the 19th century, SPCK supported the planting of new churches around the world. Funds were provided for church buildings, schools, theological training colleges, and to provide chaplains for the ships taking emigrants to their new homes. While the SPCK supported the logistics of church planting and provided resources for theological learning, by the 19th century it did not often send missionaries overseas. Instead, this work was passed to other organisations such as its sister society the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG), which was also founded by Bray. In Ireland, the APCK was founded in 1792 to work alongside the Church of Ireland; in south India the Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge was established to support the Anglican missions in that region and is affiliated with SPCK. During the twentieth century, SPCK's overseas mission concentrated on providing free study literature for those in a number of ministerial training colleges around the world, especially in Africa. The International Study Guide series was provided, free of charge, to theological training colleges across the world. They can still be purchased from the SPCK website, although the focus of SPCK's worldwide mission is now on developing the African Theological Network Press.

Supporting the Church of England

From the late 1800s to the early 20th century, SPCK ran a Training College for Lay Workers on Commercial Road in Stepney Green, London. This was set up to provide a theological education for working-class men, with the aim of better helping clergy to conduct services. It was also anticipated that with a firmer understanding of the Bible, theology and the values of the Anglican church, these men might be able to instruct their own communities. Throughout the 20th century, the SPCK offered support to ordinands in the Anglican church. These were men in training to become priests in the Church of England, who had fallen upon hard times and may have otherwise been unable to continue their studies. Today, this support continues through the Richards Trust and the Ordinands Library app.

Publishing and distribution

Thomas Bray believed passionately in the power of the printed word. From its earliest days, the SPCK commissioned tracts and pamphlets, making it the third-oldest publishing house in England. (Only the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...

es have existed longer.) Early member

George Sale George Sale (1697–1736) was a British Orientalist scholar and practising solicitor, best known for his 1734 translation of the Quran into English. In 1748, after having read Sale's translation, Voltaire wrote his own essay "De l'Alcoran ...

's translated '' AlKoran'' was published in the 1730s and was praised by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

. Throughout the 18th century, SPCK was by far the largest producer of Christian literature in Britain. The range of its output was considerable — from pamphlets aimed at specific groups such as farmers, prisoners, soldiers, seamen, servants and slave-owners, to more general works on subjects such as baptism, confirmation, Holy Communion, the Prayer Book, and private devotion. Increasingly, more substantial books were also published, both on Christian subjects and, from the 1830s, on general educational topics as well. SPCK's early publications were distributed through a network of supporters who received books and tracts to sell or give away in their own localities. Large quantities of Christian literature were provided for the Navy, and the Society actively encouraged the formation of parish libraries, to help both clergy and laity. By the 19th century, members had organized local district committees, many of which established small book depots — which at one time numbered over four hundred. These were overseen by central committees such as the Committee of General Literature and Education. In 1899, the addresses of their "depositories" in London were given as Northumberland Avenue, W.C.; Charing Cross, W.C. and 43 Queen Victoria Street, E.C.. Six years later, in edition 331, the depository was closed at Charing Cross, but a new one added in Brighton: 129, North Street. In the 1930s, a centrally coordinated network of SPCK Bookshops was established, offering a wide range of books from many different publishers. At its peak, the SPCK bookshop chain consisted of 40 shops in the UK and 20 overseas. The latter were gradually passed into local ownership during the 1960s and 1970s.

Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone Holy Trinity Church, in Marylebone, Westminster, London, is a Grade I listed former Anglican church, built in 1828 and designed by John Soane. In 1818 Parliament passed an act setting aside one million pounds to celebrate the defeat of Napoleon. ...

, Westminster, London is a former Anglican church, built in 1828 by Sir John Soane. By the 1930s, it had fallen into disuse and in 1936 was used by the newly founded Penguin Books company to store books. A children's slide was used to deliver books from the street into the large crypt. In 1937, Penguin moved out to

Harmondsworth Harmondsworth is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the county of Greater London with a short border to the south onto London Heathrow Airport. The village has no railway stations, but adjoins the M4 motorway and the A4 road (the ...

, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge moved in. It was their headquarters until 2004, when it moved to London Diocesan House in Causton Street, Pimlico. The bookshop moved to Tufton Street, Westminster, in 2003. On 1 November 2006, St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust (SSG) took over the bookshops but continued to trade under the SPCK name, under licence from SPCK. That licence was withdrawn in October 2007. However, some shops continued trading as SPCK Bookshops without licence until the SSG operation was closed down in 2009.

Publishing

The SPCK's publishing team produces around 80 titles per year, for audiences from a wide range of Christian traditions and none. The SPCK publishes under three main imprints:

SPCK

SPCK Publishing is a market leader in the areas of theology and Christian spirituality. At present, key authors for SPCK include the Anglican New Testament scholar N. T. Wright, the former Archbishop of Canterbury

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

Paula Gooder Paula Gooder (born 1969) is a British theologian and Anglican lay reader, who specialises in the New Testament. She is Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral. She has previously taught at two theological colleges, Ripon College Cuddesdon and T ...

and Alister McGrath. Recent additions to SPCK's list include

Guvna B Isaac Borquaye (born 13 June 1989), better known as Guvna B, is a rapper, author and broadcaster from Custom House, London. He has released 10 albums, 2 books and has produced segments for the BBC and a football pundit for Sky Sports News' ''Go ...

, and Ben Cooley, founder of

Hope for Justice Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cheris ...

. SPCK is also increasingly gaining recognition in the secular space in genres such as history and leadership. SPCK represent authors such as Terry Waite,

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of '' The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documen ...

and

Janina Ramirez Janina Sara Maria Ramirez (; ' Maleczek; born 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramirez, is a British art historian, cultural historian, and TV presenter. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art within their his ...

IVP

SPCK merged with

Inter-Varsity Press Inter-Varsity Press (IVP) was previously the publishing wing of Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship. It support the publishing or distribution of well over one million books each year to over 150 countries, including the translation ...

(IVP) in 2015. IVP maintains its own board of trustees and editorial board. Key authors for IVP include

John Stott John Robert Walmsley Stott (27 April 1921 – 27 July 2011) was an English Anglican cleric and theologian who was noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974. In ...

, Don Carson, Amy Orr-Ewing and Emma Scrivener.

Lion Hudson

SPCK purchased

Lion Hudson Lion Hudson is UK's largest publisher of children's Christian books. It is based in Oxford, UK. It had its origins as Lion Publishing (founded in 1971) and Hudson International (founded in 1977) which merged to become Lion Hudson PLC in 2003. ...

in 2021.

Marylebone House

In 2014, SPCK launched its fiction imprint, Marylebone House, which publishes a range of contemporary and historical fiction, short stories and clerical crime mysteries, with Christian characters and Christian themes.

Diffusion Prison Fiction

SPCK also owns the imprint Diffusion, which has published 12 titles especially commissioned for adults who struggle to read. These titles are divided into two series, "Star" and "Diamond". Star books are written for adults who are new to reading and need to improve their very basic skills, while the Diamond series is more appropriate for learners who want to develop their reading confidence further. All of the books are written with engaging plots, suitable for adults, but in a style and typeface that is accessible to people with very basic literacy skills. SPCK provides these books for free to prisons including to individual prisoners, prison libraries and prison reading groups. This is done with the aim of addressing two major causes of re-offending: lack of employment on release and lack of support from family and friends. At the end of each chapter, the Diffusion books contain questions which can be discussed in a reading group, thereby developing verbal communication and social skills. These questions focus on developing empathy by asking questions like "what would it feel like to be in that character's position?" and encourage self-reflection by asking "how does this example apply to my own life?". By the end of 2018, the SPCK had sent Diffusion books to 70% of prisons in the UK. In 2018 alone, it sent out over 6,500 books.

Assemblies website

In 1999, the SPCK created the assemblies website as a new way in which to promote Christian knowledge amongst the youth of Britain. The aim of the assemblies website is to provide teachers with easy access to free resources, empowering them to deliver high-quality assemblies that make their pupils explore faith and their own beliefs. Since it was created, the assemblies website has become a web community where experienced teachers and youth leaders can share their ideas, assembly scripts and tips and tricks for delivering engaging assemblies. There are now over 1500 assembly scripts on the website. Each month, SPCK commissions 16 new assemblies; 8 for primary schools and 8 for secondary schools. In addition to these, 'rapid response' assemblies may be added within 24 hours of momentous world events. Many assemblies focus on Christian themes, but other address pastoral issues common within schools. The Festivals of World Religions section also encourages awareness of other religions and enables teachers to celebrate children of other faiths. Every month, the assemblies website attracts over 50,000 unique visitors and the most popular assemblies are viewed over 10,000 times. In 2018, the SPCK also redeveloped its Welsh language offering, leading to a bank of 600 Welsh language assembly scripts.

The African Theological Network Press

Together with the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture, the Jesuit Historical Institute in Africa and Missio Africanus, the SPCK founded the African Theological Network Press (the ATNP). The ATNP publishes theology written by Africans on topics that matter to African Christians. The aim of the ATNP is to be "an ecumenical press serving the church in Africa and the Diaspora through affordable, high-quality, scholarly publications accessible on the continent and globally" The ATNP is a centralised commissioning and editorial unit, based in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ...

. The material is distributed across Africa to be printed locally, which avoids the problems of localised publishing where books rarely make it outside the country in which they are published. The ATNP seeks to mitigate the dependence of African theological study and teaching on publications from the global North.

SSPCK in Scotland

The Scottish sister society, the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge (SSPCK), was formed by royal charter in 1709 as a separate organisation with the purpose of founding schools "where religion and virtue might be taught to young and old" in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

and other "uncivilised" areas of the country. It was intended to counter the threat of Catholic missionaries and of growing Highland

Jacobitism , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

. The SSPCK had five schools by 1711, 25 by 1715, 176 by 1758 and 189 by 1808, by then with 13,000 pupils attending. At first, the SSPCK avoided using the

Gaelic language The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historicall ...

, with the result that pupils ended up learning by rote without understanding what they were reading. SSPCK rules from 1720 required the teaching of literacy and numeracy "but not any

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

or Irish" (then a common term for Gaelic on both sides of the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the C ...

), and the Society boasted "that barbarity and the Irish language ... are almost rooted out" by their teaching. In 1753, an act of the Society forbade students "either in the schoolhouse or when playing about the doors thereof to speak Erse, under pain of being chastised". In 1741, the SSPCK introduced the Gaelic–English vocabulary compiled by the poet Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, then, in 1767, introduced a ''New Testament'' designed with facing pages of Gaelic and English texts for both languages to be read alongside one another, with more success. In 1766, it allowed its Highland schools to use Gaelic alongside English as languages of instruction. In 1790, a Society preacher still insisted that English

monolingualism Monoglottism ( Greek μόνος ''monos'', "alone, solitary", + γλῶττα , "tongue, language") or, more commonly, monolingualism or unilingualism, is the condition of being able to speak only a single language, as opposed to multilingualism. ...

was a Society goal Cited in Tanner (2004). and a decade later Society schools continued to use corporal punishment against students speaking Gaelic. In the early 19th century, the Society activity declined. Its educational work was taken over by the Gaelic Societies of Edinburgh,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histor ...

Prominent members

* James Catford, chair of trustees * Sam Richardson, CEO * Bishop John Pritchard, former chair of trustees

Notes

External links

;Websites
SPCK Publishing
official website for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge/USA
official website

by

Charles W. J. Withers Charles William John Withers, (born 6 December 1954) is a British historical geographer and academic. He has been the Geographer Royal for Scotland since 2015, and held the Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh from 1994 to ...

* ttp://spckssg.wordpress.com/ SPCK SSG: News, Notes & Info
Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge
official website of the SSPCK {{Authority control Church of England missionary societies Anglicanism Bible societies Christian literature Christian organizations established in the 17th century Christian publishing companies Educational book publishing companies History of education Organisations based in the City of Westminster Religion in the City of Westminster Religious organizations established in 1698 1698 establishments in England