Salem Goldworth Bland (1859–1950) was a Canadian
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
theologian,
Georgist,
and one of Canada's most important
Social Gospel thinkers.
Biography
He was born on 25 August 1859 in
Lachute
Lachute () is a town in southwest Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal, on the Rivière du Nord, a tributary of the Ottawa River, and west of Mirabel International Airport. It is located on Autoroute 50, at the junctions of Quebec Provincial ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, the son of Emma Bland and
Henry Flesher Bland, a Methodist preacher. As a child he lost the use of one of his legs, likely due to
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
. He had the useless leg amputated at age thirty and replaced it with an artificial limb. He obtained a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree at
Morrin College in 1877, and later studied at
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...
. He was ordained a Methodist minister in 1884 and served as a preacher in a series of churches in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
and Quebec. In 1903 he accepted a position at
Wesley College in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
,
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
, as Professor of
Church History
__NOTOC__
Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception.
Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritua ...
and New Testament Exegesis.
Originally a relatively conservative Methodist, at Wesley he embraced
higher criticism. It was also in Winnipeg that he became committed to activist Christianity and the Social Gospel movement. He became a popular guest preacher across
western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada†...
. At Wesley he tutored a number of students including
J. S. Woodsworth,
William Irvine, and
William Ivens
William Ivens (June 28, 1878 – June 20, 1957) was a religious and political figure in Manitoba, Canada. He was a leading figure in the Winnipeg General Strike,, and subsequently served as a Labour member of the Manitoba legislature from 192 ...
who became early leaders of the
social-democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Bland, a longtime advocate for the creation of a third party alternative to the Liberals and Conservatives,
helped found the
Ontario CCF.
Bland also became a regular writer for ''
The Grain Growers' Guide'', from 1917 to 1919. This activism led him into conflict with the leaders of Wesley College and he was dismissed in 1917 after a long battle with principal Eber Crummy.
Bland moved to
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
in 1919 where he became the minister at the
Broadway Methodist Tabernacle, one of the largest Methodist churches in the city and one serving the large
working-class community of western Toronto. He remained there until 1923, when he moved to the smaller
Western Methodist Church. He became a prominent figure in the new
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...
. In 1935 he convinced the general assembly to pass a motion condemning
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
. He also led the campaign in favour of the
ordination of women and succeeded in 1936.
He also remained deeply involved in social activism. He was a supporter of the
Republican side in the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
and a leader of the Canadian Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy. Firmly anti-war, he refused to encourage Canadians to enlist in the Republican cause. Rather he focused on raising humanitarian aid for those affected by the conflict. Most notably the committee supported a home for some 100 war orphans in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
that was named Salem Bland Home. He became close friends with the exiled American activist
Emma Goldman, and when she died in Toronto in 1940 it was Bland who delivered the eulogy at her funeral. He also wrote a column for the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'' called "The Observer" from 1924 to 1950. A well-known figure in Toronto, he had his portrait painted by the
Group of Seven
The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...
artist
Lawren S. Harris in 1926. The painting is today in the collection of the
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Bev ...
.
Bland died in Toronto on 7 February 1950 and was buried at
Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
Works
*''
The New Christianity, or the Religion of the New Age''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1920.
*''James Henderson, D.D.'' Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1926.
References
Footnotes
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Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bland, Salem
1859 births
1950 deaths
19th-century Methodist ministers
20th-century Canadian historians
20th-century Methodist ministers
20th-century Protestant theologians
Academics in Manitoba
Academics in Ontario
Academics in Quebec
Activists from Ontario
Activists from Quebec
Anglophone Quebec people
Canadian Christian socialists
Canadian historians of religion
Canadian Methodist ministers
Canadian Methodist theologians
Christian socialist theologians
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Georgists
Historians of Christianity
Methodist socialists
Ministers of the United Church of Canada
People from Lachute
Toronto Star people
Writers from Ontario
Writers from Quebec