Walking the Tightrope: The Missiology of Tom Allan for Today

Abstract

This article considers the contribution of Tom Allan, a minister, evangelist and theologian of particular public prominence in Scotland and beyond in the period from 1946 to 1964, to contemporary questions of new expressions of church. It examines Allan's concept of "missionary parishes" of constant witness and service and relates this radical missiology, centred on the "apostolate of the laity," to diverse sources in Scottish and European theology. The article argues that Allan united the need for Gospel proclamation with contextualization to the lives of ordinary people, and with social and political action alongside the urban underclass. It is concluded that Allan's work speaks to the present as it reflects necessary elements of postmodern missiological thinking in its key aspects, offers an appraisal of the "emerging church" conversation in re-asserting a role for the institutional Church in mission, and bridges evangelical/ecumenical polarisation.