The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early twentieth century United States and Canada. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as excessive wealth, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Theologically, the Social Gospellers sought to operationalize the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:10): "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." Social Gospellers typically were post-millennialist; that is, they believed that the Second Coming could not happen until humankind rid itself of social evils by human effort. Social Gospel leaders were predominantly associated with the liberal wing of the Progressive movement, and most were theologically liberal, although they were typically conservative when it came to their views on social issues. Important Social Gospel leaders include Richard T. Ely, Josiah Strong, Washington Gladden, and Walter Rauschenbusch.
Religious Progressivism
In the United States prior to World War I, the Social Gospel was the religious wing of the Progressive movement, which had the aim of combating injustice, suffering, and poverty in society. Denver, Colorado, was a center of Social Gospel activism. Thomas Uzzell led the Methodist People's Tabernacle from 1885 to 1910. He established a free dispensary for medical emergencies, an employment bureau for job seekers, a summer camp for children, night schools for extended learning, and English language classes. From 1884 to 1894, Myron Reed of the First Congregational Church served as a spokesman for labor unions on issues such as worker's compensation. His middle-class congregation encouraged Reed to move on when he became a Socialist, and he organized a nondenominational church. The Baptist minister Jim Goodhart set up an employment bureau, and provided food and lodging for tramps and hobos at the mission he ran. He became city chaplain and director of public welfare of Denver in 1918. Besides these Protestants, Reform Jews and Catholics helped build Denver's social welfare system in the early twentieth century.
The Reverend Mark A. Matthews (1867–1940) of Seattle's First Presbyterian Church was a leading city reformer who investigated red-light districts and crime scenes, and denounced corrupt politicians, businessmen, and saloon keepers. With 10,000 members, his church was the largest Presbyterian Church in the country, and he was selected the national moderator in 1912. He build a model church, with night schools, unemployment bureaus, a kindergarten, an anti-tuberculosis clinic, and the nation's first church-owned radio station. Matthews was the most influential clergymen in the Pacific Northwest, and one of the most active Social Gospellers in America.
The South had its own version of the Social Gospel that focused especially on prohibition. Other reforms included outlawing public swearing, boxing, dogfights, and similar affronts to their moral sensibilities. By 1900, says historian Edward Ayers, the white Baptists, although they were the most conservative of all of the denominations in the South, became steadily more concerned with social issues, taking stands on, "temperance, gambling, illegal corruption, public morality, orphans, and the elderly."
The Social Gospel affected much of Protestant America. The Presbyterians described its goals in 1910 by proclaiming the following: "The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world."
New Churches
In 1879, Mary Baker Eddy introduced Christian Science, which gained a national following. In 1880, the Salvation Army denomination arrived in America. Although its theology was based on ideals expressed during the Second Great Awakening, it also focused on poverty and social improvement. The Society for Ethical Culture, established in New York in 1876 by Felix Adler, attracted Reform Jewish followers. Charles Taze Russell founded the Bible Students movement, which later split into the "Jehovah's Witnesses" of today.
Washington Gladden
Portrait of Social Gospeller Washington Gladden, who was an important leader of the movement.