Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (1698-), learned society & publisher
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK), founded in 1698, is an Anglican Society and Publisher, whose purpose is "to help people to understand and to grow in the Christian faith".
Overview
The Society was founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, an Anglican priest in London and would-be missionary in the American colonies, to “promote learning in the plantations and abroad and to propagate Christian knowledge at home.”
Since its inception the Society has been active in the field of publishing, what makes it today the third oldest publishing house in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. As a Publisher SPCK printed and distributed Christian literature in Great Britain and abroad, sent the first printing presses to India and the first printed books to Australia, and published the first Braille books. SPCK' publications range from the academic to the popular, from devotional literature to issues in contemporary theology.
Equally significant has been the engagement of the Society in the field of children and adult education. SPCK established libraries for clergy and missionaries in many countries, opened the first British schools for poor children, and was among the first agencies to give equal education to girls.
Branches
- Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) (founded in 1709)
- Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge / USA Chapter (SPCK/USA) (founded in 1983)
References
- Allen, William Osborne Bird and McClure, Edmund (1898) Two Hundred Years: the History of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1698-1898