March 06 1689

This Day in Church History. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) Founded.

The SPCK was founded by Rev. Thomas Bray, Commissary to Maryland, and four laymen, as the first Anglican Missionary Association. 

The Society's primary mission was the education of poor children, both in England and the Colonies. By 1704, the Society had 54 Schools with 2,000 scholars. By 1741, the Society had over 2,000 Schools! The SPCK's Work flourished throughout the British Empire and beyond, including India, Burma, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, Japan and North America.

The Society also had thriving medical missions, training medics and building hospitals with the aim of winning the heathen's soul by caring for his body. 

The SPCK pioneered Anglican literature missions, printing good and cheap books, primarily Bibles, Prayer-Books and other spiritual works. Also Fiction, Travel, Science, History and Biography. 

The Society built lending libraries for the poor, and supplied printing presses to overseas missions. 

The Society led the way in Anglican Bible Translation (including a Welsh Bible in 1713, 10,000 Arabic New Testaments in 1721, and Bible Literature in over 100 languages). The SPCK endowed colonial Bishoprics, established Teacher-Training Colleges, as well as Colleges for the Training of Lay-Workers to assist parish clergy in holding mission services, conducting temperance meetings, and giving classes for all ages. The SPCK is a reminder of classical Anglicanism's zeal for domestic and foreign missions!