City Mission refers to the missions run by various Christian denominations in urban and suburban settings. Many of the city missions established in nineteenth-century Australia continue to operate community services organisations in the 2010s.
The London City Mission was founded in 1835, with a mandate to ‘extend the knowledge of the Gospel among the inhabitants of London and its vicinity (especially the poor)’.
In the nineteenth century, working class communities in the inner city were seen as ‘dark’ and ‘foreign’, and an appropriate field for mission.
City missions were established in Australian colonies from the mid 1850s onwards. These organisations sought to address the spiritual and physical needs of those living in poverty, to prevent alcoholism and prostitution, as well as the care of children and unmarried mothers.
The first half of the twentieth century saw an expansion of denominationally based mission activity, with many inner-suburban churches reconstituting themselves as mission districts.
In the post-war period, missions took on a more secular role, and were important providers of child welfare and other services.
