[Philadelphia – Urban Poverty – Evangelical Missions – Social Reform] Philadelphia City Mission

Philadelphia City Mission Formed March 12, 1831. [To the Christians of Philadelphia.]

Philadelphia: William F. Geddes, 1831. [2], 12, [2] pp. Stitched pamphlet measuring 4 ¼ x 7 inches. Good plus, with scattered foxing and soiling, some wear to edges. Item #BK0169

An early appeal for organized missionary work among Philadelphia’s urban poor, issued upon the establishment of the Philadelphia City Mission in March 1831. The organization brought together Christians from several evangelical denominations to reach residents who rarely or never attended church. Its organizers acknowledged that poverty itself could prevent participation in religious life, citing “the want of suitable apparel, or the want of provision for the poor in our places of worship—into this last reason every Church may do well to inquire.”

The pamphlet begins by describing the large numbers of people living in Philadelphia and its surrounding districts who remained outside the ordinary reach of the churches:

“The most inattentive christian observer must have remarked that there are many persons in the City and Liberties who live in the habitual neglect of the public worship of God and are as destitute of spiritual life as if they were a thousand miles removed from the sound of the Gospel.”

The Mission proposed to carry religious instruction directly into poorer neighborhoods through home visits, prayer meetings, the distribution of Bibles and tracts, and efforts to increase attendance at Sabbath and infant schools. Its members were to be drawn from different evangelical denominations and required to demonstrate personal piety before undertaking missionary work.

An interesting document of Philadelphia’s early urban missionary movement, particularly for its recognition of the economic and social barriers separating the city’s poorer inhabitants from established religious institutions.

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Price: $250.00