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Allen
has been around ministers and ministries all of his life.
He grew up in Canada where his father and his uncles were all
ministers. When the family moved
to Southern California he became active in the youth groups in the Church; and
it was during that time that he began to sense a call to ministry. That
call was confirmed as he went on to study
Theology, Bible, and Greek in university and seminary studies. Through
his seminary studies in Dallas, Texas, he earned both the Master of Theology
and Doctor of Theology degrees in Old Testament. When he began the doctoral program he was invited to teach
Hebrew and Old Testament. That
was the beginning of a Seminary teaching career that continued for 30 years.
In
1976, after finishing the Doctor of Theology degree, Allen and his wife Jan
took a study leave and went to the University of Cambridge in England. Over the next few years he completed a second doctorate, a
PhD from Cambridge in Hebrew in the faculty of Divinity, and Jan completed a
BA as well as a PhD in English from Cambridge.
It was during this time that they became Anglicans by conviction
through their studies and in their worship. In 1990 Allen joined the faculty
of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, where he
was Professor of Biblical Studies. His
special interest was training people called to the ministry so that they would
be able to develop and deliver biblical expository sermons and lessons.
And
now God has opened up a new area of ministry in Tallahassee, Florida, the
Christian Leadership Center. The
vision for this ministry is one of ministering to those who minister God’s
Word, by providing resources, assistance, and encouragement for the faithful
exposition of Holy Scripture. This
will be a center for biblical research and renewal.
Its resources and facilities will assist local pastors and teachers in
their continuing study of God’s Word; and eventually it will provide a place
for individual spiritual retreats for Christian leaders--pastors, teachers,
missionaries, laity. In the
meantime, the center will serve as the resource for many writing projects.
Over
the years Allen has been involved in a variety of ministries including
frequently preaching in churches, serving in pastoral interims, participating
in foreign mission visits, leading Bible conferences, clergy conferences, and
Christian education programs; and conducting Bible study programs in Israel
and other countries of the Middle East. He
has taught in four very different seminaries, and been involved in a number of
different churches and denominations, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and
Episcopal, high church, low church, free church, independent church,
traditional, and modern. This has
enabled him to work easily with the different groups, and with different types
of seminary students going into their various ministries.
These
programs in Israel have provided people with a great opportunity to develop
their spiritual lives because they include solid Bible teaching, directed
worship and reflection, and participation in established Christian works among
Arabs and Jews. These are
frequently longer trips geared to the study of the Bible and the development
of the spiritual life, even available for credit for students.
For this (and other trips to the Middle East) Allen has written a study
guide book, In the Paths of God, which will be available at the end of
the year 2001.
Allen’s
top priority has always been the interpretation and exposition of Scripture,
whether in writing, preaching, or teaching others how to study the Bible as
well. He has written a number of
things including commentaries on Genesis, Proverbs, Leviticus and Psalms, as
well as a Hebrew grammar. He has
worked on several Bible translations including the New King James, the Net
Bible, and most recently the Revised Living Bible (due out in 2002).
Writing projects to be finished in 2001 include a book on the biblical
patterns of worship, entitled Recalling the Hope of Glory, a book on
the basic requirements of spiritual leadership, entitled, Full of Grace and
Truth, Developing Spiritual Leadership in a Religious World, and a shorter
book on the way people function in families, using samples of families in the
Bible, called Family Portraits.
A full commentary on the Book of Psalms will be the next major project
to be completed.
In
all his work Allen's main focus is the interpretation of Scripture.
He believes that today more than ever what the Church needs is the clear
exposition of the Word of God empowered by the Spirit of God, and that it should
not be unduly influenced by the many modern skeptical approaches to the
Scriptures. He believes that the
churches have drifted away from the careful and complete preaching and teaching
of God’s Word, with the result that too many Christians do not know very much
biblical content or theological truth. And the great issues facing the Church in
the world today require that Christians be trained in Scripture.
It is God's Word that changes lives; it is God's Word that will bring
lasting revival to the Church; and it is God’s Word that offers the only true
hope for people in this troubled world. And
so his classes, wherever they are taught, are designed to train people in the
study of the Scriptures, so that they will be changed, and so that they then
will be able to expound the Word of God in turn to others.
Moreover, his ministry visits in churches around the country also give
expression to this conviction, whether those visits are for ordinary Sunday
services or more extended Bible conferences.