Roland Allen’s The Ministry of Expansion

• Roland Allen saw clearly in the first half of the twentieth century what few over the last two millennia have seen and even today see: that there is an essential interrelationship between the charismatic working of the Holy Spirit, the dynamic nature of the church as the body of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit, and the mission of the triune God. Although here applied to the very specific question of sacramental and eucharistic practice, the implications and applications of Allen’s vision are extensive for all committed to participating in the work of the Spirit to and from the ends of the earth. While always respecting the role of the institutional dimensions of the church, Allen here prompts us to wrestle again and again with apostolic life in the Spirit as normative for engaging the ongoing missio Dei, however difficult such may be to discern at times.

  — Amos Yong, PhD, professor of theology and mission Fuller Seminary author of The Missiological Spirit (2014) and Spirit of Love (2012)

• WCL, J.D. Payne, and the contributors are to be congratulated on the release of this previously unpublished work by Roland Allen. We hear much today about the importance of empowering and mobilizing ordinary Christians for the cause of multiplying and growing healthy churches. This little book demonstrates how Roland Allen on this important principle—particularly as it relates to celebration of the Lord’s Supper—was once again ahead of his time. Readers familiar with Allen’s biblically reasoned challenges to unhelpful traditions will not be disappointed by this work.

  — Craig Ott, PhD, professor of mission and intercultural studies Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

• I still remember first encountering Roland Allen’s writings as a student. His prose was lively. His insights were relevant. His thoughts were imbued with Scripture. Since Allen died in 1947, surely everything of significance the man wrote has been published by now. But no! New treasures await you. J. D. Payne has done us a great service by bringing to light a previously unpublished manuscript by Allen. Readers of Allen will feel that they are sitting down with an old friend to revisit some common themes from slightly different angles (and new anecdotes). Payne himself has written a helpful introductory chapter and lined up other scholars (Hubert Allen, Robert Schmidt, Steven Rutt, Robert Banks) to provide essays related to Roland Allen’s thought or life. What a treasure this little book is!

  — Robert L. Plummer, PhD, chairman of New Testament department professor of New Testament interpretation The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

• Sixty years ago Donald McGavran reintroduced Roland Allen to evangelicals. McGavran often spoke and wrote about how much Roland Allen had influenced his own missiology. McGavran required his students to read Allen’s books and revived interest in Allen’s approach to missions strategy. J. D. Payne and his collaborators have performed a similar service for a new generation of evangelicals. In this volume they have provided missiologists, missionaries, and missions students with a long unpublished Allen manuscript. The manuscript revisits common themes in Allen’s writings: the role of the Holy Spirit in missions, the spontaneous growth of new churches, and the importance of lay ministry. The essays by Allen scholars enhance the value of the book, and the chapter by Hubert Allen, Roland’s grandson, is most welcome.

  — John Mark Terry, PhD, professor of missions Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary

Editor

• J.D Payne
  J.D Payne

  J.D. Payne (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a writer, speaker, and church planter and currently serves as Professor of Christian Ministry at Samford University. He previously served with the North American Mission Board and as an associate professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he directed the Center for North American Missions and Church Planting. J. D. is the author of numerous books including Missional House Churches, The Barnabas Factors, Discovering Church Planting, Strangers Next Door, Kingdom Expressions, and Pressure Points.
  
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