Page 37 - Pilgrims in Georgia

R Oglethorpe gets some help!

A Trust and Trustees created to manage the Colony

The proposed charter created a corporate body called a Trust and provided for a number of Trustees who would
govern the colony from England. Seventy-one men served as Trustees during the life of the Trust. Trustees were
forbidden by the charter from holding office or land in Georgia, nor were they paid. Their motives for serving were
charitable, and their motto was Non sibi sed aliis ("Not for self, but for others"). Many of these men were members of
or associated with the “The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts” and “The Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge” this will become important as they look for people to colonize their new colony.

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was founded by men
concerned about the lack of religious activity in the colonies and appointed Thomas Bray
as commissary. Bray was instrumental in forming the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge in 1698 and it was in a meeting of S.P.C.K. that the S.P.G. charter was written .
The main ways in which they felt the situation could be tackled were through encouraging
education and the production and distribution of Christian literature, it is now the third
oldest publishing house still operating in England today (only the Oxford and Cambridge
University Presses have been in existence longer).Through the work of SPCK, they hoped

to build up a more learned clergy and to find ways of communicating the basic principles
of the Christian faith to a wider audience, both in Britain and overseas. the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge which was formed that day is still active over three
hundred years later. The primary object of the Society was to "ensure that sufficient
mainteynance [sic] be provided for an orthodox clergy to live amongst the colonists and
that such other provision be made as may be necessary for the propagation of the gospel The Seal of the Society for
the Propagation
in those parts...". Responsibilities of the first missionaries included: performance of divine
of the Gospel in Foreign
service, catechism, baptism, instruction for the "heathen and infidels" and encouragement Parts
of educational establishments”. James Vernon, one of the original Associates of Dr. Bray

and an architect of the charter, maintained an interest in Georgia throughout the life of
the Trust. He arranged the Salzburger settlement and negotiated with the S.P.C.K for
missionaries for them.