Roland Allen (29 December 1868 – 9 June 1947) was an English missionary to China sent by the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organization (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Part ...

(SPG).

Early life

He was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England, the son of an Anglican priest; but was orphaned early in life. He was educated at

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

and after winning a scholarship to study at St. John's College, Oxford, Allen also studied at the (Anglo-Catholic) Leeds Clergy Training School.

Career

Allen was ordained a deacon in 1892 and priest the following year. Allen spent two periods in Northern China working for the SPG. The first, from 1895 to 1900, ended due to the Boxer Rebellion, during which Allen was forced to flee to the British Legation in Beijing. He was a chaplain to community throughout much of the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

. After a period back in England, he returned to North China in 1902, but was forced home due to illness. These early experiences led him to a radical reassessment of his own vocation and the theology and missionary methods of the Western churches’. Allen became an early advocate of establishing Churches that from the beginning would be self-supporting, self-propagating, and self-governing, adapted to local conditions and not merely imitations of Western Christianity. These views were confirmed by a trip to India in 1910 and by later research in Canada and East Africa. With this background, Allen wrote his book ''Missionary Methods'', which was first published in 1912. It is possible that his thought was influenced in part by the earlier primitivist writings of

Anthony Norris Groves Anthony Norris Groves (1 February 1795 – 20 May 1853) was an English Protestant missionary, who has been called the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, and la ...

and by the Brethren movement.Dann R B: The Primitivist Missiology of Anthony Norris Groves, pp. 227–9 Allen's approach to mission strategy for indigenous churches is based on the study of

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

’s missionary methods, as he was convinced that he found in them the solution to most of the difficulties of the day. He believed recognition of the church as a local entity and trust in the Holy Spirit's indwelling within the converts and churches was the mark of Paul's success. In contrast was Allen's belief that the people of his day were unable to entrust their converts to the Holy Spirit and instead relied in His work through them. His views became increasingly influential, though Allen himself became disillusioned with the established churches. He spent the last years of his life in

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. Near the end of his life Allen wrote ''The Family Rite''. In this essay Allen advocates that the family again becomes the center of the Christian church and its ministry. Allen died in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

. His funeral was conducted by the

Bishop of Mombasa The Anglican dioceses of Mombasa are the Anglican presence in and around Mombasa and south-east Kenya; they are part of the Anglican Church of Kenya. The remaining dioceses of the Church are in the areas of Maseno, of Mount Kenya, and of Nakuru. ...

and his gravestone can be found in Nairobi's City Park. A simple stone cross with the inscription on the pedestal reads: "ROLAND ALLEN, CLERK IN HOLY ORDERS, 1868–1947, I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE SAITH THE LORD"

Works

* ''The Siege of the Peking Legations'', 1901 * ''Missionary methods : St. Paul's or ours : a study of the church in the four provinces'', London : R. Scott, 1912 * ''Missionary principles'', London : R. Scott, 1913 * ''Pentecost & the World: the revelation of the Holy Spirit in the 'Acts of the Apostles, London : Oxford University Press, 1917 * ''Educational principles and missionary methods : the application of educational principles to missionary evangelism'', London : R. Scott, 1919 * ''Missionary survey as an aid to intelligent co-operation in foreign missions'', (co-authored with Thomas Cochrane), London : Longmans, Green, 1920 * ''Voluntary clergy'', London : SPCK, 1923 * ''The spontaneous expansion of the church : and the causes which hinder it'', London : The World dominion press, 1927 * ''Devolution and its real significance'', (co-authored with Alexander McLeish), 1927 * ''Sidney James Wells Clark. A vision of foreign missions'', 1937

Modern editions

* ''The Ministry of the Spirit. Selected Writings'', Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2006, ; edited by David M. Paton; foreword by Lamin Sanneh. * ''Missionary Methods. St Paul's or Ours?'', Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2006, ; foreword by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali. * ''Missionary Principles and Practice'', Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2006, ; foreword by Brian Stanley. * ''The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and the Causes which Hinder it.'', Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2006, ; foreword by Bishop Michael Turnbull. * ''Reform of the Ministry. A Study in the Work of Roland Allen'', Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2006, ; edited by David M. Paton.

Biography

* Allen, Hubert, ''Roland Allen: Pioneer, Priest and Prophet'', Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1995

References

External links

* *
Bibliographic directory
from Project Canterbury
The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Roland 1868 births 1947 deaths People educated at Bristol Grammar School Anglo-Catholic missionaries Anglican missionaries in China English Anglican missionaries Anglo-Catholic clergy 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests English Anglo-Catholics British expatriates in China