Dorcas society explained

A Dorcas society is a local group of people, usually based in a church, with a mission of providing clothing to the poor. Dorcas societies are named after Dorcas (also called Tabitha), a person described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9:36).^{[1] [2]}

Dorcas societies were at their height in the 1800s, but there are still Dorcas societies around the world, providing clothing and other physical needs.^{[1] [2]}

One Dorcas society was founded in Douglas, Isle of Man, in December 1834 as part of the community's thanksgiving for being spared from an outbreak of cholera.^[3] Other Dorcas societies were established by missionaries in the Americas in the early 1800s.^{[4] [5]} Beatrice Clugston founded the Glasgow Royal Dorcas Society in 1864.^{[6] [7] [8]} One English Dorcas society in Sydenham, London, met during five Tuesdays in Lent, producing 166 garments in one year.^[9]

The Dorcas Society at St Paul's Chapel of Trinity Church Parish, New York City, was founded in 1850; another Trinity Chapel, St John's, also had a Dorcas Society; the two provided clothing to school children in the parish.^[10] The Dorcas Society of Maine was founded in 1897 by Kate Douglas Wiggin as the Dorcas Society of Hollis & Buxton, Maine.^[11] The Dorcas Society of Maine is still active and provides academic scholarships and charitable contributions within its community.

See also

• African Dorcas Association, a 19th-century Dorcas Society of New York City
• Dorcas Medical Mission
• Sewing circle

Notes and References

1. Book: Lockyer, Herbert. All the women of the Bible. 1967. Zondervan. Grand Rapids. 0310281512. 46–48.
2. Book: Achtemeier, Elizabeth . Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons, Volume 3 . 2003 . CSS Publishing . 0788019430 . 123. Elizabeth Achtemeier.
3. http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/history/poor/dorcas.htm Isle of Man Dorcas Society
4. Book: Rosemary . Keller . Rosemary . Ruether . Marie. Cantlon . Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America: Women and religion: methods of study and reflection . 2006 . Indiana University Press . 025334686X . 245.
5. Book: Errington, Elizabeth Jane. Wives and Mothers, School Mistresses and Scullery Maids: Working Women in Upper Canada, 1790-1840 . 1995 . McGill-Queen's University Press . 0773513094 . 174.
6. Book: Colin Rochester. Understanding the Roots of Voluntary Action: Historical Perspectives on Current Social Policy. 2011. Sussex Academic Press. 978-1-84519-424-6. 142–.
7. Book: Elizabeth L. Ewan. Sue Innes. Sian Reynolds. Rose Pipes. The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women. 8 March 2006. Edinburgh University Press. 978-0-7486-2660-1. 77–.
8. Web site: Beatrice Clugston (1827-1888) . TheGlasgowStory . 2021-09-04.
9. Book: Richmond, Vivienne. Clothing the Poor in Nineteenth-Century England . 1995 . Cambridge University Press . 1107042275. 216.
10. Book: Appleton's Dictionary of New York and Vicinity . 272 . . New York City . 1896 . 4 September 2021.
11. Web site: The Dorcas Society of Maine.