On June 9, 1947, Anglican priest, Roland Allen passed away in Nairobi, Kenya. Below is a photo of a senior Allen at his desk. I do not think I have shared this pic on my blog. This was given to me by Allen’s grandson, Hubert J. B. Allen, and was published in my book Roland Allen’s The Ministry of Expansion. Allen was a camera-dodger, so photos of him are rare. In all likelihood, he was probably unaware that someone was taking this photo from outside the room.
Here is a little info for you, taken from a 2019 post, in recognition of Allen’s life and ministry:
Allen was one of the most influential mission thinkers of the 20th century. Missiological giants such as Lesslie Newbigin and Donald McGavran drank deeply from Allen’s well. Allen served for a few years in China and lived through the Boxer Uprising. He later wrote highly influential works such as Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours? (1912) and The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes which Hinder It (1927).
Allen was asked by his grandson if he could read his grandfather’s writings. Allen responded by saying he could but “You will not understand them. No one will understand them until I’ve been dead ten years.” It was not a full decade before others started paying attention to Allen’s writings. But it was close.
Roland Allen was a misunderstood prophet.
I was first introduced to Allen’s work as a seminary student in the late 1990s. My 2001 Ph.D. dissertation evaluated contemporary North American church planting activities in view of Allen’s concept known as the spontaneous expansion of the Church. I took portions from my work and published Roland Allen: Pioneer of Spontaneous Expansion in 2012.
Since that time, I have attempted to introduce others to the numerous writings of Allen. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the publication of Missionary Methods, Craig Ott and I edited Missionary Methods: Research, Reflections, and Realities, a collection of papers related to Allen that were presented at the 2012 Evangelical Missiological Society.
One of the most exciting opportunities came when Allen’s grandson, Hubert Allen, contacted me about editing and publishing Roland Allen’s unpublished manuscript of The Ministry of Expansion: The Priesthood of the Laity. This circa 1938 work rested at an Oxford library for decades. In 2017, William Carey Library published it as Roland Allen’s The Ministry of Expansion.
Seventy-four years after Allen’s death, I want to encourage you to check out the books linked above. And linked below, are several Roland Allen-related books, podcasts, posts, and miscellaneous resources:
FROM STRIKE THE MATCH:
Steve Rutt on Roland Allen’s Life and Work
Roland Allen–Life and Journey, Part 1
Roland Allen–Missiology, Part 2
FROM MISSIOLOGICALLY THINKING
You Might be a Roland Allen Fan If…
Very Rare Early Reference to Roland Allen
Roland Allen: Part 2, His Missiology
MISC:
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.
Amazon page: Steven Richard Rutt, Roland Allen: A Missionary Life
Amazon page: Steven Richard Rutt, Roland Allen: A Theology of Mission
