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The American Tract Society (ATS) is a nonprofit, nonsectarian but
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
organization founded on May 11, 1825, in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
for the purpose of publishing and disseminating tracts of
Christian literature Christian literature is the literary aspect of Christian media, and it constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing. Scripture While falling within the strict definition of literature, the Bible is not generally considered literature. Ho ...
. ATS traces its lineage back through the New York Tract Society (1812) and the New England Tract Society (1814) to the
Religious Tract Society The Religious Tract Society was a British evangelical Christian organization founded in 1799 and known for publishing a variety of popular religious and quasi-religious texts in the 19th century. The society engaged in charity as well as commerci ...
of London, begun in 1799. Over the years, ATS has produced and distributed many millions of pieces of literature. There is a printed pamphlet titled "Constitution of the American Tract Society, instituted in Boston 1814" referencing the distribution of 'Religious Tracts' by Christians in Europe and America during the previous twenty years. The purpose of which was to combine the energy & activities of various groups & individuals across New England. ATS is theologically
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
. It receives funding through a combination of private donations and tract sales to fund tract and evangelistic resource distribution, including start-up funding for foreign tract distribution in regions including Africa, Asia, India, South and Central America, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Churches and other evangelistic groups in the United States can purchase ATS literature for use in their own evangelistic ministries. ATS is board-governed and benefits from the visibility of its Council of Reference, an advisory board of evangelical notables from business, ministry, and other walks of life. ATS is currently headquartered in
Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is located within Dallas County except for small portions located in Collin and Rockwall Counties. At the ...
. On September 1, 2012, American Tract Society entered into a joint publishing agreement with
Good News Publishing Crossway (previously known by its parent ministry Good News Publishers) is a not-for-profit evangelical Christian publishing ministry headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois. Clyde and Muriel Dennis founded Good News Publishers in 1938, working out o ...
, which is a division of Crossway.


Early history

Before ATS was founded, the Bible was the only religious book being distributed widely around the United States. The American Tract Society's founders felt that the
American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...
was limited in its activities, leading to ATS's establishment. ATS was created from a merger of the New York Religious Tract Society, founded 1812, and New England Religious Tract Society, founded 1814. William Allen Hallock helped the New England Religious Tract Society change its name to the American Tract Society in 1823. The New England society surrendered that name to a national society proposed by the New York society, which was formed on May 10, 1825. The separate tract societies merged and moved into a four-story building at 87 Nassau Street in New York City. The
numbering There are many different numbering schemes for assigning nominal numbers to entities. These generally require an agreed set of rules, or a central coordinator. The schemes can be considered to be examples of a primary key of a database management ...
of that house was revised over the years, changing to 144 Nassau Street in 1827 and 150 Nassau Street by 1833. A new tract house was built on the same site in 1846-1847. Upon ATS's 1825 creation, it became the first organization in the U.S. formed specifically to give out religious tracts. Hallock subsequently served as the organization's secretary from 1825 to 1870, and as secretary emeritus until his death in 1880. Sampson Uryling Stoddard Wilder was the first president, serving until 1842, and Moses Allen was the first treasurer, serving until 1863. The organization was dependent on endowments and financial contributions from wealthy backers. It was successful, printing out 700,000 tracts in its first year and 5 million tracts per year by 1850, with branches in multiple American cities. ATS took advantage of the population's growing literacy, distributing tracts to immigrants, Native Americans and freed slaves. In 1894, ATS built its 23-story
American Tract Society Building 150 Nassau Street, also known as the Park Place Tower and the American Tract Society Building, is a 23-story, building in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is located at the southeast ...
at 150 Nassau Street, which still stands today. At the time of its construction it was one of the tallest buildings in New York City. Throughout the nineteenth century, ATS used
traveling salesmen "Traveling Salesmen" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American version of ''The Office'', and the show's 41st overall. The episode was written by Michael Schur, Lee Eisenberg, and Gene Stupnitsky, and was directed by series ...
. These peddlers sold tracts, provided
counseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of co ...
, and led
church services A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sa ...
.


Today

The American Tract Society has disseminated Christian tracts for over 185 years, and believes its mission and message are as relevant today as when it was formed in 1825. In 1978, ATS relocated its headquarters from New York to Garland, Texas. The move came about as a result of the growing number of churches and ministries purchasing ATS literature in Texas. The leaders of American Tract Society also discovered that it would be cost effective to have the ATS office in Texas. The ever-increasing advances in technology and social media present both challenges and opportunities for ATS in disseminating its message. Over the years ATS has developed a number of ways to present the gospel in a relevant and timely manner. ATS continues to develop new tools to communicate Christian teachings to the next generation. Through its international division (International Tract Society) ATS has approximately 136 print partners in 70 countries who print and distribute tracts in over 100 languages. The goal is to provide ATS print partners with the necessary resources and funding to print and distribute evangelism tools among disadvantaged churches and evangelists worldwide.


References


Sources

* Rorabaugh, W.J. ''The Alcoholic Republic''. NY: Oxford University Press, 1979.


Further reading

* Elizabeth Twaddell. The American Tract Society, 1814-1860.
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 ...
, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Jun. 1946), pp. 116–132


External links


American Tract Society home page
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Dating American Tract Society Publications Through 1876 from External Evidences: A Series of Tables. By S.J. Wolfe, 2001.
Ministrywatch.comMainstreet.com
{{Authority control Religious tract publishing companies Evangelical organizations established in the 19th century Organizations based in Texas