Alan Richard Tippett was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

, missiologist, and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

Life

Tippett was an Australian

to the

Fiji Islands Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

for more than 20 years, and an academic in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Born 9 November 1911 in

St Arnaud, Victoria St Arnaud is a town in the Wimmera region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 244 kilometres north west of the capital Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Northern Grampians local government area. At the , St Arnaud had a population of ...

, Alan Tippett was the son of William Tippett, a

pastor from a family with a long tradition of

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

involvement.Charles H. Kraft
TIPPETT Alan Richard (1911-1988)
. He graduated from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1934 and the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Training College in 1935. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1938 and worked in churches in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. With his young family, he worked as a

with the Fijian Methodist Church from 1941 to 1961. He was a professor at

Northwest Christian College Bushnell University is a private Christian university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is historically affiliated with the Christian churches and churches of Christ. History The school was founded as a divinity school in 1895 by Chri ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

between 1961 and 1964. He earned his Ph.D. in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in 1964 and taught part-time in the Institute of Church Growth,

Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an Evangelical seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller has a student body of approximately 2,300 students from 90 countries and ...

. Tippett also served as

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Missionary Anthropology at Fuller Theological Seminary's School of World Mission in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. In the spring of 1965, an invitation was extended to him and Donald McGavran to move the Institute of Church Growth to Pasadena, where the school would become another satellite school to the

. The faculty was expanded to include such

scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...

as Ralph D. Winter in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, Arthur Glasser in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Charles H. Kraft Charles H. Kraft (born 1932 in Connecticut) is an American anthropologist, linguist, Evangelicalism, evangelical Christian speaker, and Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Intercultural Communication in the School of Intercultural Studies at Fu ...

to join Tippett in anthropology, and C. Peter Wagner in

church growth The Church Growth movement is a movement within evangelical Christianity which aims to grow churches based on research, sociology, analysis, etc. The Church Growth movement sees its origins in the Great Commission, and seeing people come to the k ...

. As church growth ideas matured, they were incorporated by McGavran into the basic textbook of the movement, Understanding Church Growth (Eerdmans), published in 1970. Tippett authored over 500 pieces of literary work as part of his contributions to missions and he helped pioneer the theory as well as practice of missiological anthropology. In 1977 he retired to

Canberra, Australia Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city, and the eighth-largest Australian city b ...

, where he died 16 September 1988.

Books

*Tippett, A.R., 1954, ''The Christian (Fiji 1835–1867)'', Auckland Institute and Museum, Auckland. *Tippett, A.R., 1967, ''

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

Christianity: a study in growth and obstruction'', Lutterworth Press,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Alan Tippett
in By David Hilliard, God's Gentlemen: A History of the Melanesian Mission, 1849-1942. *Tippett, A.R., 1970. ''Church Growth and the Word of God'', Eerdmans,

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. *Tippett, A.R., 1971, ''People Movements in Southern Polynesia'',

Moody Press Moody Bible Institute (MBI) is a private evangelical Christian Bible college in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Historically, MBI has maintained positions that have identified it as n ...

, Chicago. *Tippett, A.R., 1973, ''Aspects of Pacific Ethnohistory'', William Carey Library, Pasadena, CA. *Tippett, A.R., 1977, ''The Deep Sea Canoe: Third World Missionaries in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

'',

William Carey Library William Carey Publishing, previously known as William Carey Library, is a book publishing company based in Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most po ...

, Pasadena, CA. *Tippett, A.R., 1987, ''Introduction to Missiology'', William Carey Library,

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

, CA

References

External links

Alan Tippett interviewed by Charles H. Kraft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tippett, Alan Missiologists 20th-century Australian anthropologists Methodist missionaries in Fiji 1988 deaths Australian Methodist missionaries Australian expatriates in Fiji Australian expatriates in the United States Fuller Theological Seminary faculty