SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE (SPCK)

The oldest Anglican mission society, SPCK was founded in 1698 by Rev. Thomas Bray and four lay supporters, "to promote and encourage the erection of charity schools in all parts of England and Wales; to dispense, both at home and abroad, Bibles and tracts of religion; and in general to advance the honour of God and the good of mankind, by promoting Christian knowledge both at home and in the other parts of the world by the best methods that should offer." An appeal from Maryland for help in the colony's ecclesiastical organization made Henry Compton, Bishop of London, choose Bray as his commissary. Bray sought missionaries to join him and worked out a scheme for free libraries in Maryland. The support he received made him try out the library scheme in England with success. This and other educational and literary projects led to the foundation of the SPCK. After long legal delays, Bray set sail for Maryland, arriving in March 1700. Though well received, he returned almost immediately, convinced he could serve the Maryland church better from England. Finding that the SPCK had developed rapidly, Bray founded the society for the propagation of the gospel (1701) for the foreign missions. This and the National Society for the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church (1811) have since shared the work of the SPCK, but the latter has set up Church of England schools and teachers' training colleges both at home and abroad. The SPCK is best known now for its publications on theological and other subjects. It holds the distinction of being the third oldest publishing house in England, after Oxford and Cambridge.

Bibliography: w. o. b. allen and e. macclure, Two Hundred Years: The History of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1698–1898 (London 1898). w. k. l. clarke, A Short History of S. P. C. K. (London 1919). m. clement, The S.P.C.K. and Wales, 1699–1740 (London 1954). w.a. bultmann and p.w. bultmann, "The Roots of Anglican Humanitarianism : A Study of the Membership of the SPCK and the SPG, 1699–1720," Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 33 (Mar 1964) 3–48. m.a.c. warren, "The Missionary Expansion of Ecclesia Anglicana," in New Testament Christianity for Africa and the World (London 1974) 124–140. c. rose, "The Origins and Ideals of the SPCK 1699–1716," in The Church of England c. 1689–c. 1833 (Cambridge 1993) 172–190. p.j. posan, "The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future," American Theological Library Association: Summary of Proceedings 52 (1998) 247–254.

[g. albion/eds.]