Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
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| Abbreviation | SPCK |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1698 |
| Founder | Thomas Bray |
| Type |
Church of England Blue Coat School Christian media |
| Headquarters | 36 Causton Street London SW1P 4ST United Kingdom |
| Website | spck.org.uk |
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is the oldest Anglican mission organisation. It was founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray (an Anglican priest), and a small group of friends. The most important early leaders were Anton Wilhelm Boehm and court preacher Friedrich Michael Ziegenhagen. The emphasis was on setting up schools, and the SPCK was a major factor in setting up church schools across Britain. Today, the SPCK is most widely known for its publishing of Christian books. A Scottish branch was founded in 1709. It sent missions to Scotland's Highlands, and a handful to Indians in the American colonies.
The Society was founded to encourage Christian education and the production and distribution of Christian literature. SPCK has always sought to find ways to communicate the basic principles of the Christian faith to a wider audience, both in Britain and overseas.
In its first two hundred years, the Society founded many charity schools for poor students in the 7 to 11 age group. It is from these schools that the modern concept of primary and secondary education has grown. It was also an early provider of teacher training.
The Scottish wing, the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of 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 and other "uncivilised" areas of the country, thus countering the threat of Catholic missionaries achieving "a serious landslide to Rome" and of growing Highland Jacobitism. Their schools were a valuable addition to the Church of Scotland programme of education in Scotland which was already working with support from a tax on landowners to provide a school in every parish. The SSPCK had 5 schools by 1711, 25 by 1715, 176 by 1758 and 189 by 1808, by then with 13,000 pupils attending.
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