- Definition
The "social gospel" was a movement where Christians used their faith to try and fix big problems in society like poverty and unfair working conditions. They believed their religion called them to help improve the world around them.
Instead of only opening a soup kitchen, a social gospeller might lobby the government to create laws for safer working conditions and fair wages.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: The social gospel is like deciding to change the rules of a game to make it fairer for everyone, instead of just giving a struggling player a few extra points.
Ask your child: If our town had a big problem, how could we fix the cause of it?
Common mix-up: People often think the social gospel was just about churches giving charity to the poor. The movement’s goal was bigger: to change the systems and laws that created poverty and inequality in the first place.
Examples
- Advocating for an end to child labour so that children could go to school instead of working in factories.
- Campaigning to limit the sale of alcohol, believing it was a root cause of poverty and family distress.
social gospel is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
