SPCK

About Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is the biggest independent Christian publisher in the UK and a UK-based Christian charity patronised by the royal family since Queen Anne in 1865. His Majesty King Charles continued our longstanding and treasured relationship with the royal family by becoming our charity's royal patron in 2024. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, we have worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and worldwide.

A recognised market-leader in the areas of Theology, Christian Spirituality, Christian Children's Books and Children's Bibles, we publish bestselling Christian authors such as Tom Wright, John Mark Comer, Paula Gooder, Alister McGrath and John Polkinghorne. From popular books, bestselling and award-winning Bibles, to academic titles, we publish a variety of Bibles and books that are for all who want to understand and live in the Christian faith. SPCK continues to gather recognition in other genres too, including History, Self Help, and Leadership books written for people of all backgrounds, proudly representing authors such as Terry Waite, Melvyn Bragg, Janina Ramirez and Katie Piper. Our varied and much loved imprints, like Lion Cub Books (formerly Lion Children's Books), enable us to reach and inspire both children and adults in the Christian faith.

More than a publisher. More than a charity. Paul Chandler, Former CEO of Traidcraft, Fellow at St Chad's College, Durham, and a member of SPCK, says it best - SPCK is 'More than a publisher. More than a chariy.'

We are a small charity with a big impact, reaching across boundaries – whether geographical, social, cultural or linguistic – to meet people where they’re at and transform lives.

'We strive to be relevant and transformative, relfecting the depth and breadth of Christian thought and theology in a changing world. As Christians we know someone and something that is life-changing.' - Stephen East, Chair of SPCK Group

SPCK's Vision, Mission and Values: SPCK's Vision: To create conversations between Christianity and culture. SPCK's Mission: To publish great Christian books around the world. SPCK's Values: Significant

We strive for our products to help people of all ages and from all nations to know Jesus better.

Passionate

We bring enthusiasm and pride to every project and partnership, focusing relentlessly on achieving great quality and great outcomes.

Creative

We encourage everyone to have the freedom to innovate and be bold in their ideas so that our products can stand out in a competitive marketplace. 

Knowledgeable

We are experts in our fields and use our expertise and skills to build trust with our customers, authors and colleagues to deliver the best results.

Over 300 Years of Incredible History: SPCK has been helping people find out more about the Christian faith for over 300 years. Our founder Thomas Bray was committed to tackling the problem of ‘religious ignorance’ in the seventeenth century. Long before His Majesty King Charles became our Royal Patron, there have been relationships between royalty and SPCK. Links between the Society and the Crown go back to the time of Queen Anne who in 1695, while still a Princess, subscribed £44 to support Thomas Bray's scheme for sending books to encourage learning and religion in the American colonies. This project led to the foundation of the SPCK a few years later.

Learn more about our amazing history and royal patronage here.

Our priority to help people find out more about the Christian faith remains the same - especially as the UK becomes ever more secular:

attendance in the Church of England has halved in 50 years; church membership is predicted to fall to 8.4 per cent of the population by 2025; over half the people in the UK say that they do not have a faith. Here at SPCK, we are passionate about turning the tide of secularization. With the loyal support of our partners and members, we aim to ensure that Christianity remains relevant in these uncertain times and that it is accessible to everyone.

Everyone includes individual Christians whom we encourage in their faith and empower them to talk about Christ with others. Everyone includes people on the edge of faith whom we inspire to explore the Bible and ask how God works in their lives. Everyone includes vulnerable and marginalized communities whom we welcome to the Christian family. SPCK is, at heart, a Christian mission that operates through publishing to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

We reach out to a huge number of people through our charitable programmes! Diffusion transforms the lives of prisoners throughout the UK by providing free easy-to-read books to prison reading groups.

We are now collaborating with other charities working in prison ministry to bring hope to people in prison, their families and communities. Thanks to your donations and funding from trusts, we have supported reading groups in 80% of prisons in the UK and have sent out over 32,000 books since launching Diffusion in 2010. In 2022, we donated our stock of Diffusion books to Junction42 – a Christian charity delivering services to prisons in Scotland and the North of England. We continue to respond to every prisoner request for a book by sending a set of all 13 Diffusion titles to a named person via the prison library. Our hope is that the books are read and shared. 2025 and beyond, we continue to get feedback from people in prison about the impact of receiving and reading a Diffusion book. We are now developing new partnerships with business, charities and authors who have a heart for prison ministry. This includes our new charity partnership with Prison Fellowship. Click here to learn more about plans to support Prison Fellowship with our inspirational Diffusion books. Assemblies is the go-to online resource for teachers wishing to provide a thought-provoking time of spiritual reflection in the busy school day.

It is a bank of more than 1,600 assembly scripts that’s being added to every month! All these resources are free to access, free to download and free to use. SPCK was instrumental in setting up Church of England primary schools in the UK and it is still making a difference in schools today! Homegroups supports the mission and growth of the church by providing a hub of free resources and reflections written by theological and subject experts. Supports the mission and growth of the church providing a hub of free resources and reflections written by theological and subject experts. By creating a reliable bank of study materials, we empower leaders of all denominations regardless of training, to lead inspiring Bible studies with confidence.