Roland Allen was born on this date in 1868. He turned the world of missions upside down.
Allen (1868-1947) was an Anglican, priest, missionary, author, and provocateur. While his influence was felt in the latter twentieth and twenty-first centuries, his views were often disregarded during his lifetime. Books such as Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? (1912) and The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church (1927) caused friction and frustration when published. However, today’s church planters are encased in Allen’s missiology, often without knowing it. He did much to foster the development of the Church’s apostolic imagination.
From my doctoral dissertation in 2001 to the present, I have written extensively on Allen. If you are unfamiliar with his work, I encourage you to begin with the two aforementioned books. At the time of this post, the Kindle versions of Missionary Methods and Spontaneous Expansion are FREE and $0.99, respectively.
I have also produced several posts and podcasts on Allen that you may locate on this blog. They (and other resources) are linked below to reduce your search time. Enjoy!
BLOG POSTS:
You Might be a Roland Allen Fan If…
Very Rare Early Reference to Roland Allen
Roland Allen: Part 2, His Missiology
STRIKE THE MATCH PODCASTS:
Steve Rutt on Roland Allen’s Life and Work
Roland Allen–Life and Journey, Part 1
Roland Allen–Missiology, Part 2
OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES:
Here is a video of a lecture on Roland Allen given at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Charles Henry Long and Anne Rowthorn, “Legacy of Roland Allen,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research, April 1989.
1972 article on Donald McGavran speaking about Roland Allen
Samuel Sigg, “Finding the Grave of Roland Allen in Nairobi,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research, July 2012.
Steven Rutt, Roland Allen: A Missionary Life
Steven Rutt, Roland Allen: A Theology of Mission
J. D. Payne, Roland Allen: Pioneer of Spontaneous Expansion
J. D. Payne, ed., Roland Allen’s The Ministry of Expansion: The Priesthood of the Laity