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42-604: Founded in 1709, the Society had similar aims to the English Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge , which being made up of Anglicans did not concern itself with Scotland. Its main activity was in evangelizing the Scottish Highlands , sending ministers to Scottish emigrant communities overseas, and sending missionaries to convert native peoples to christianity. The Society began to establish schools in

84-737: A translation project in 1755. The New Testament translation was led by James Stuart (1701–1789), minister of Killin in Perthshire , and the poet Dugald Buchanan . Stuart worked from the Greek, while Buchanan improved the Gaelic. The work on the Old Testament translation was largely by Stuart's son John Stuart of Luss (1743–1821). Dedpite the SSPCK's Gaelic language work, in 1790 one of its preachers still insisted that English monolingualism

126-543: A 45 foot long mobile classroom which visited schools and churches throughout Scotland, called Bibleworld Mobile. At the end of 2016 the Bibleworld Mobile classroom was retired after a decade of service and a new resource was sought that could continue to help churches build supportive links with schools and families in their communities. The next generation of Bibleworld is an after school resource designed to be used in book club format, called Bibleworld Books . It

168-575: 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

210-586: A language of instruction. It published a New Testament in Gaelic in 1767, with facing pages of Gaelic and English texts. This was followed by the Old Testament in Gaelic, published in four parts between 1783 and 1801. It was not until after the final defeat of the Jacobitism at Culloden in 1746 that the Society had begun to consider publishing a Bible in Scottish Gaelic, and it initiated

252-533: 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

294-611: 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. From the late 1800s to the early 20th century, SPCK ran

336-774: A printing press and trained printer to Tranquebar in East India to assist in the production of the first translation of the Bible into Tamil . This was accomplished by the German Lutheran missionaries Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg 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

378-527: A small group of friends, including Sir Humphrey Mackworth , Colonel Maynard Colchester , Lord Guilford and John Hooke at Lincoln's Inn . These men were concerned by what they saw as the "growth in vice and immorality" in England at the time, which they believed was owing to the "gross ignorance of the principles of the Christian religion". They were also committed to promoting "religion and learning in

420-472: Is a centralised commissioning and editorial unit, based in Nairobi . 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. The Scottish sister society,

462-480: 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 , Paula Gooder and Alister McGrath . Recent additions to SPCK's list include Guvna B , and Ben Cooley, founder of Hope for Justice . SPCK is also increasingly gaining recognition in

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504-489: Is designed to meet the requirements of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence in creative and dynamic ways. The New Testament was first translated into Scottish Gaelic by Rev James Stuart, minister of Killin, and published in 1767, and the full Bible was completed in 1801. The Metrical Psalms were produced in 1826. The Scottish Bible Society has overseen the revision and updating and printing of this Bible and

546-544: Is now an SPCK imprint. 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. 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

588-582: The Association for Promoting Christian Knowledge (APCK) was founded in 1792 to work alongside the Church of Ireland; in south India the Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK) 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

630-567: The Christian faith in the UK and worldwide. The SPCK is the oldest Anglican 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 third-oldest independent publisher and the leading publisher of Christian books in the United Kingdom . On 8 March 1698, Rev. Thomas Bray met

672-749: The Edinburgh Bible Society , amalgamated in 1861 with the Glasgow Bible Society (founded 1812) to form the National Bible Society of Scotland , is a Scottish Christian charity that exists to make the Bible available throughout the world. The Scottish Bible Society arose as a separate organisation to the British & Foreign Bible Society over its desire to print Metrical Psalms as an additional book at

714-610: 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 and other "uncivilised" areas of the country. It was intended to counter the threat of Catholic missionaries and of growing Highland Jacobitism . Scottish Bible Society Scottish Bible Society ( SBS ), founded in 1809 as

756-508: The "narrowing" of the SPCK's vision. In 2019 the SPCK's "specialist medical, mental health and self-help imprint", The Sheldon Press, was acquired by Hachette UK. Book series published over the years have included the following: 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 its own name, SPCK Publishing, and via three main imprints, IVP, Lion Hudson and Marylebone House. SPCK Publishing

798-543: 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 , Westminster, London is a former Anglican church, built in 1828 by Sir John Soane . By

840-598: 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 , 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. In 1999

882-618: The Committee of General Literature and Education. In 1875 the addresses of their "depositories" in London were given as Great Queen Street , Lincoln Inn's Fields , Royal Exchange and Piccadilly , by 1899 they were at 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 at 129, North Street in Brighton. In

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924-580: The Diamond series is more appropriate for learners who want to develop their reading confidence further. All of the books are suitable for adults, but written 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

966-520: The Highlands with the aim of reducing Jacobitism and resisting the rise of Roman Catholicism . The first school was opened on St Kilda in 1711. By the end of that year, the SSPCK had five schools, by 1715 twenty-five, by 1758 176, and by 1808 189, by which time 13,000 children were attending the schools. At first, the SSPCK strongly avoided using the Gaelic language in its schools, which has led to

1008-705: The Irish language ... are almost rooted out". In 1880, the Society formed a commission to revise the Gaelic Bible, including members of the Free Churches as well as the established Church of Scotland, chaired by Norman Macleod . By the time the New Testament was completed the affairs of the Society had come under the investigation of a Royal Commission, and in 1883 the work of revision was suspended, to be resumed some thirteen years later in 1896. In 1902

1050-764: The Metrical Psalms. Recently the Scots Gaelic Bible was revised by Donald Meek into modern orthography and printed with the Metrical Psalms in 1992. In 2002 an edition of the Scots Gaelic New Testament was produced as a diglot with the English New King James Version (NKJV) along with the 1826 Metrical Psalms, with updated orthography. Until recently, there was a project to translate the New Testament into modern Gaelic. The Gospel of John (Soisgeul Eòin)

1092-697: The SPCK established the Assemblies website to provide resources for school assemblies. 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. In 2006 Alec Gilmore described what he called

1134-641: The SPCK had sent Diffusion books to 70% of prisons in the UK. In 2018 alone, it sent out over 6,500 books. 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 ATNP

1176-569: The Society founded many charity schools for poor children aged 7-11. The Society also provided teacher training . 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 throughout the 18th century. In 1709, SPCK sent

1218-507: The back of the Bible. At the time BFBS did not allow additional books to be added to the Bible. It also acted as a missionary society that was involved in sending workers to countries such as China during the late Qing dynasty . Bibleworld is the schools education department of the Scottish Bible Society. Since 1991, Bibleworld has been sharing the Bible with children and young people. Bibleworld used to operate as

1260-467: The claim that pupils learnt by rote, without understanding what they were being taught. A Society rule of 1720 required the teaching of reading and numbers, "but not any Latin or Irish", a common term for Gaelic in both Ireland and Scotland. In 1741, the SSPCK introduced the Galick and English Vocabulary compiled by the poet Alasdair MacDonald , but in 1753 a rule of the Society forbade children "either in

1302-462: 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,

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1344-618: The new revision of the Bible was adopted by the National Bible Society of Scotland, later renamed the Scottish Bible Society . The Society continues to exist as the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ( SPCK ) is a UK -based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray , it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of

1386-493: The plantations abroad". They resolved to meet regularly to devise strategies to increase their 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. Closely connected to the Church of England , the SPCK was not active in Scotland, where the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge

1428-538: The schoolhouse or when playing about the doors thereof to speak Erse, under pain of being chastised". The effect was to strengthen the Church of Scotland and the English language. John Lorne Campbell wrote in 1997 "Too often Scottish writers, and particularly writers on the history of the Scottish Highlands, have confused 'education' with ' Calvinist indoctrination ', such as

1470-457: The secular space in genres such as history and leadership. SPCK represent authors such as Terry Waite , Melvyn Bragg and Janina Ramirez . In 2023 SPCK Publishing was issuing the following series: SPCK merged with Inter-Varsity Press (IVP) in 2015. IVP maintains its own board of trustees and editorial board. Key authors for IVP include John Stott , Don Carson , Amy Orr-Ewing and Emma Scrivener. SPCK purchased Lion Hudson in 2021 which

1512-581: 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 organizations such as its sister society the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG), which was also founded by Bray. In Ireland,

1554-512: The third-oldest publishing house in England. (Only the Oxford and Cambridge University Presses have existed longer.) Very early on, SPCK member George Sale translated The Koran into English and this was published in 1734 by the SPCK, much to the praise of Voltaire . Throughout the 18th century, SPCK was by far the largest producer of Christian literature in Britain. The range of its output

1596-562: The twentieth century, the SPCK offered support to ordinands in the Anglican church. These were men and women 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. From its earliest days, the SPCK commissioned tracts and pamphlets, making it

1638-626: 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. Depositories were established at Great Queen Street , Lincoln Inn's Fields , Royal Exchange and Piccadilly . SPCK's early publications were distributed through

1680-459: Was founded in 1709. The SPCK sought to tackle 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,

1722-678: Was given in the S.P.C.K. schools in the Scottish Highlands and Islands , where the Westminster Confession of Faith , the Shorter Catechism , Vincent's Catechism , the Protestant's Resolutions , Pool's Dialogues , and Guthrie 's Trials , all in English, formed the bulk of an unattractive list of school books." In 1766, the Society allowed its Highland schools to use Gaelic alongside English as

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1764-594: Was one of its goals, and ten years later some SSPCK schools were still using corporal punishment on children speaking Gaelic. By the early 19th century, the Society's activity was declining. Its work in schools was taken over by the Gaelic Societies of Edinburgh , the Glasgow Gaelic School and a group based in Inverness . In 1879, the Society boasted that through its work "barbarity and

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