The Social Gospel movement in America emerged in the late nineteenth century in the wake of rising urban industrialization. Preachers and revivalists continued to rail against the social vices of drinking, smoking, and extramarital sex, but now, a new cadre of Christians took aim at the corrosive influences that accompanied the industrial era. While the language of “social gospel” has been co-opted in recent times by theological liberals and progressive evangelicals, I will confine my remarks to the early years of the social gospel movement.
Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) came to Second German Baptist Church in New York City in 1886, located near Hell’s Kitchen, a slum area inhabited by recent immigrants seeking work in American factories and sweatshops. Walter was appalled by abuses in child labor, less than living wages, and unsanitary working conditions. The emphasis of his ministerial colleagues on personal conversion failed to address the glaring social problems that attended growing industrialization. Walter’s study of the Salvation Army, with its dual emphasis on “soul saving and society saving,” impacted him deeply. As his hearing loss worsened, Walter turned to writing to express his growing conviction that conversion to Christ and social reform represent one and the same gospel. Among his writings was a book of Prayers for the Social Awakening. He introduced his prayer book by underscoring the corporate nature of the Lord’s Prayer, as reflected in Jesus’ salutation, “Our Father,” which begins the prayer. We stand united in praying and working for God’s name to be hallowed, God’s will to be done, and God’s kingdom to come. Petitioning God for daily bread, forgiveness, and deliverance from evil gives further evidence of Jesus’ mutual concern to save society as well as individual persons. Walter composed prayers “to save us from killing the sweetness of young life by the greed of gain,” for working men and women who labor “under the strain of unremitting toil,” for immigrants “stunted by poverty and oppression” and employers “to wield their power with justice and with love.” During this season of Thanksgiving, I was drawn to a prayer in his “Praise and Thanksgiving” section:
Walter Rauschenbusch
God, we thank Thee for this universe,
our great home,
for its vastness and richness,
and for the abundance of life which teems upon it
of which we are part.
We praise Thee
for arching sky and refreshing winds,
for driving clouds and constellations on high,
for salt sea and running water,
for everlasting hills,
for trees and grass underfoot.
We thank Thee for our senses
by which we can see the splendor of the morning,
and hear the songs of birds,
and smell the breath of springtime.
Grant us, we pray Thee,
a heart wide open to all this beauty,
and save our souls from being so steeped
in care or so darkened by passion
that we pass heedless and unseeing
when even the thornbush by the wayside
is aflame with Thy glory.
Walter Rauschenbusch, Prayers for the Social Awakening, 1910.
Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.