Social Gospel - The 21st Century

The 21st Century

In the United States, the Social Gospel is still influential in mainline Protestant denominations such as, African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Methodist Church; it seems to be growing in the Episcopal Church as well, especially with that church's effort to support the ONE Campaign. In Canada, it is widely present in the United Church and in the Anglican Church. Social Gospel elements can also be found in many service and relief agencies associated with Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church in the United States. It also remains influential among Christian socialist circles in Britain in the Church of England, Methodist and Calvinist movements.In Catholicism, liberation theology was a radical Marxist attempt to promote the Social Gospel.

A broader perspective on the Social Gospel has been provided by Tom Drake-Brockman in his 2012 book Christian Humanism: the compassionate theology of a Jew called Jesus. This is an attempt to free Christ’s social teachings from the constraints of liberal ideology and use them to forge a new Christian theology based on compassion for the extremities of human suffering.