Pentecostalism Scholar to Deliver Students’ Lectureship on Missions at Princeton Seminary

Princeton, NJ, November 10, 2008–Allan Anderson, professor of global Pentecostal studies and director of the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at the University of Birmingham, will deliver Princeton Theological Seminary’s annual Students’ Lectureship on Missions on Monday, December 1 and Tuesday, December 2 in the Main Lounge of the Mackay Campus Center. Anderson’s lectures, “The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism,” will explore the mission practices and beliefs of Pentecostals in the first two decades of the twentieth century.

Anderson was reared in Zimbabwe by missionary parents. He earned his B.Th., M.Th., and D.Th. at the University of South Africa. He spent twenty-three years as a missionary and theological educator in southern Africa before moving to Birmingham, England in 1995 to take up his present post.

Anderson’s interests include early Pentecostal history and theology and African independency. He is the author of Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism (Orbis, 2007), An Introduction to Pentecostalism (Cambridge University Press, 2004), African Reformation: African Initiated Christianity in the 20th Century (Africa World Press, 2001), and Zion and Pentecost: The Spirituality and Experience of Pentecostals and Zionists/Apostolics in South Africa (University of South Africa Press, 2000).

The lecture schedule is as follows:

Monday, December 1 at 7:00 p.m.—“The Missionary Spirit: The Garrs and the Hong Kong Pentecostal Mission”
Tuesday, December 2 at 12:45 p.m.—“Passage to India: The Pentecostal Legacy of Pandita Ramabai”
Tuesday, December 2 at 7:00 p.m.—“Africa’s Hands: Pentecostalism and Independency”

The lectures are open to the public and free of charge. A reception for Anderson will immediately follow the first lecture. For more information, call 609.497.7760 or visit www.ptsem.edu.                        

Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812, the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. It is the largest Presbyterian Seminary in the country, with more than 600 students in six graduate degree programs.