In 1904 the Church of Scotland established a Committee on Social Work (CSW). With the broad aim of ‘providing social services irrespective of class, creed or colour based on Christian gospel and carried out by committed Christian men and women’, their network of health and social services gradually expanded so that by World War II, the Church was the largest single provider of social services in Scotland. While some services targeted men, young single women living in cities were prioritized due to fears about rising immorality amongst young people and from the belief that women were the moral guardians of the family. To address these anxieties and complement existing charitable provision, the Church of Scotland opened a network of hostels, ‘preventive’ homes for single, ‘friendless’ girls and boarding houses. And, in 1915, they opened a maternity home for unwed mothers in Glasgow to meet a ‘very pressing need’. Combined, these services sought to address the ‘peculiar and complex female problem’ present in Scotland's cities, but it was the Church of Scotland's home for unwed Scottish mothers that secured the Church both medical and civic recognition for its high standards of maternal health and social care, while also meeting the Church's evangelical and political objectives.

The Church's entry into social work coincided with broader British anxieties about the health of the nation and a need for national efficiency.