Rev. Everard Allen, pastor of the Brown's Town Circuit of Baptist Churches.
-Carlington Wilmot photo
Mark Dawes
, Staff Reporter
(Part one of this interview was carried last Tuesday and Wednesday)
IF THERE is a single theme that has shaped the outlook of the Rev. Everard Allen for the pastoral ministry it is 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts' (Zechariah 4:6b).
The Rev. Mr. Allen, who has been pastor of the Brown's Town Circuit of Baptist Churches in St Ann, since 1972 explained " Before I came into the pastoral ministry I saw clearly that human ability can't do the work of the ministry. That is why Zechariah 4:6b with all that it implies about the power of the Holy Spirit and the conscious reliance on the Holy Spirit is such a feature of my life. So for me as a pastor, the infilling and reliance on the Holy Spirit is essential for my enablement to function as a Christian and as a pastor."
The renowned Brown's Town-based Baptist minister, believes that many churches are scared to talk about the Holy Spirit these days, "I believe this is particularly so in the traditional and established churches. I think that is why we have this massive reaction to all these many churches that have risen up that could be called under the broad umbrella of 'Pentecostals'."
He believes part of the hesitance to speak more about the Holy Spirit is traceable to the equipping that takes place within theological seminaries. Citing his own experience as a student at the United Theological College of the West Indies he said: "If I had to repeat I would go back to my same college because what I got there I would not exchange it for anything. But in my time there I never heard someone say 'Brethren, it is not by your intellectual learning that equips you to do the work of the ministry. You need the supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit'!" He however does not hold that shortcoming against his alma mater.
A CHARISMATIC
A product of the dynamic 1970s Charismatic Renewal Movement (which has significantly waned), the Rev. Mr. Allen, 58, happily identifies himself as a Charismatic. "Doctrinally and experientially I am committed to the charismatic. The charismatic way is not just an awareness of the Holy Spirit, it is a conscious personal infilling. If this were not so, we would not have had the Biblical command 'Be filled with the spirit'. The life in the Spirit is not simply for your moral character. The Spirit also has gifts and that is where the charisma comes from because 'charisma' is the Greek word for gift. It is the rediscovery of the gifts of the Spirit in the church today and in the life and ministry of believers. When that is rediscovered, we have the Charismatic dimension to the Christian life That is why I am yearning for spiritual revival in the churches."
He tells the story how he asked God for the gift of speaking in tongues and the Lord answered that prayer. "I wanted it because of what I saw in the New Testament as the value of this gift. In 1 Corinthians 12 it says those who speak in tongues personally edify themselves. The way I am made up, if God has a gift for His people I want it. The Apostle Paul said, 'I want you all to speak in tongues'. When you pray to God in your normal tongue you are praying to God through your mind. When you speak to God through the gift of tongues it is your spirit in direct communication with God.
INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES
"The limitations of your mind are bypassed. And if God has given me another way whereby I can be edified I want it. The speaking and interpretation of tongues edifies the Body of Christ. It is when Christians are edified and enriched that they will be motivated to go out on the ministry the Lord has assigned. This begging and beseeching and constant challenging that we have to be doing in our churches today, when Christians have this inward drive, we don't have to be doing that. I left theological college with a large intellect and a pretty-much dry heart. I have found the gift of tongues to water your soul and deal with that inward dryness."
The Rev. Mr. Allen is married to Myrna, a Spanish teacher and vice principal at St. Hilda's Diocesan High School in Brown's Town. They have two adult offspring a daughter Michelle and son Michael.
His congregations know him as a no-nonsense pastor. This is evident in his teaching and preaching ministries. If someone is talking excessively while he is preaching, he is known to issue stern rebukes specifically directed at that errant worshipper especially where that worshipper is distracting an unsaved person.
If one is to become a deacon in any one of his churches, one had better be in regular attendance at midweek Bible Study and Prayer meeting. "In the spiritual life leadership has to be done by way of example. So we say to our members, to be a deacon is not any status business. If you are not in regular attendance at Bible study and prayer meetings you disqualify yourself. What sort of example are you going to be to the flock?" he asked rhetorically.
He is respected for his thoroughness in sharing the scriptures during midweek Bible study. "I don't believe in skimming the surface of the Bible, it does not really get people anywhere God has to be taught properly," he said. His knowledge of New Testament Greek is still fresh but he harbours regrets that he did not study Old Testament Hebrew. Diligent students at his Bible studies are known to leave with up to eight foolscap pages of notes. "I am called as a pastor to help those people find their gifts from God. To provide the opportunity in the church for them to fulfil that ministry. And to feed them spiritually so that they can fulfil that ministry. So I see my role as an enabling ministry for the people of God I consider myself to have succeeded in the pastorate to the extent that if I am moved out of it, the churches I pastor get on better without me. This would be evidence that my equipping and enabling role has succeeded."
