At this critical point in the history of World Missions, it is imperative for us to take a step back from “business as usual” in our work around the globe and reevaluate the strategies and methods we are implementing. What is working? What isn’t? If we’re honest, there may be more not working than we would care to admit. In this book, written in the early 1900s, Roland Allen invites us to look at the missionary work of the Apostle Paul with fresh eyes and an igniting perspective that is strikingly relevant to the greatest challenges we are facing today in modern missions. He offers a well of insight from the methodology of Paul that will focus and unite us as we draw nearer than ever before to our goal of fulfilling the Great Commission and reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Newly updated, revised edition. A complete missionary manual for evangelical missionaries. Missionary Methods is an enduring classic, a how-to that every single missionary should read, as well as any lay person who desires to be a useful part of the body of Christ. The author, Roland Allen, takes a thorough look at the practice and principle of arguably the most successful church planter in history, the biblical apostle Paul. Every missionary difficulty and success can be found in Acts and the apostle Paul's letters, which cover such topics as training, discipleship, finances, and sustainability. The "methods" are built on the foundation of a relationship with God, salvation through Christ, and the indwelling and leading of the Holy Spirit.

"If it were once believed that the freedom of churches should be restricted to bring greater control to missions, Roland Allen sets out to overturn this conception. Warning against the danger of imposing greater limits on churches, the Author advocates that all members of the church, 'natives' and foreigners alike, must take an active role in its establishment and daily life. The study divides itself into nine chapters; the first, introducing Allen's standpoint, the second as an opening into thenature and character of Spontaneous Expression. The third chapter deals with modern attempts by 'natives' towards the liberty of their churches. The fear of the doctrine becoming weakened by natives taking it into their own hands is addressed by chapter four and this fear is widened into the realm of the Christian standard of morals in chapter five. Civilisation and enlightenment form the central themes of the sixth chapter. Chapters seven and eight tackle the distinction between the Church andmissionary societies. It is in the final chapter that the future of Spontaneous Expansion is investigated and Allen puts forward his ideas which, as he rightly predicted, were broadly accepted fifty years and longer still after their original publication."

In Roland Allen: A Theology of Mission, a companion work with Roland Allen: A Missionary Life, Steven Richard Rutt completes a portrait of Roland Allen (1868-1947) in this intellectual biography. Extensive archival evidence discloses how apostolic principles formed the basis for Allen's missionary theology. Although it is well-known that Allen's hermeneutical ideas were born of Pauline principles, Steven Richard Rutt expounds the ways in which Allen's missionary experiences had profoundly impacted Allen's theological beliefs. Allen wrote about his findings in letters, sermons, articles and books, some of which were never published. Allen's writings tenaciously challenged the methodology of colonial missionary societies and exposed the causes hindering Church expansion: failures occurred in missions due to the imposition of Western missionary paternalism and institutional devolution. Allen advocated the empowerment of indigenous churches to apply the principles of self-government andself-support. He asserted the importance of the Pauline concept of 'Spirit and order', which encompasses both the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as well as that of the Church. Allen's diagnosis of the missionary situation and the proposed ways to restore apostolic order presented contemporary controversy but since his death, we have seen the importance of Allen's ideas in Mission studies grow steadily. With an expert evaluation of Allen's theological insight, Roland Allen: A Theology of Mission also offers a superb contribution to the discipline of historical theology and historical missiology as Rutt delves into a contextual assay into the missionary landscape of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries.

Roland Allen: Pioneer of Spontaneous Expansion examines the life of Allen and his convictions regarding the missionary work of the Church. Drawing extensively from Allen's publications, Payne weaves together a concise explanation of Allen's thinking that provided the foundation for what he came to describe as the "spontaneous expansion of the Church." This well-documented work addresses Allen's views on the way of Jesus and the Apostles, indigenous churches, Holy Spirit, the role and faith of the missionary, devolution, leadership development, voluntary clergy, and non-professional missionaries. This book will be of interest to church leaders, missionaries, and other mission-minded thinkers who wish to explore the radical missiology of one of the most influential Christian writers of the twentieth century.

Robert L. Plummer and John Mark Terry edit this collection of entry points into the missionary methods of the Apostle Paul. Conducting a major reappraisal of Roland Allen?s Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours? Michael Bird, Eckhard Schnabel and others reconsider the relevance of Paul's missionary activities for the church today.