Missionary Methods

2011 Reprint of 1912 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Roland Allen, a young English missionary, first in North China and later in East Africa, sought to change drastically the entire colonial and paternalistic system of mission governance. He became a leading missionary theorist and a controversial, prophetic challenger of the existing order. He believed that indigenous peoples should be given control of their own churches--including control of finances--and responsibility for supporting their own churches. Allen completely turned traditional missionary attitudes on their ear. In his emphasis on an immediate, intense, local experiencing of prayer and community, he lessened the need for hierarchical control of the institutional church.