Citizen of Atlanta

In addition to one of the fullest preaching schedules in Georgia, Methodist Charles Allen writes a Sunday column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Were people really reading him? He found out when he remarked in his column that he had some nice color reproductions, billfold size, of a picture of Christ, and would send one to anybody who wrote in. Last week--a month later--letters were still pouring in, 10,035 so far, asking for nearly 65,000 copies of the picture.

Thirty-eight-year-old Pastor Allen was honestly surprised, but some of his parishioners were not. They are used to things happening in a large way around their minister.

The son of a Methodist circuit preacher, Allen himself took a North Georgia circuit after divinity school (Emory). His call to Atlanta's Grace Church came only three years ago. The parish, crowded by the growing business district, seemed to be losing ground. Active membership was about 300, the annual budget $19,000. In three years, Grace Church has added 1,242 new members and raised its budget to $100,000--currently oversubscribed. Each Sunday, extra chairs have to be crammed into the aisles and corridors to accommodate the crowds.

This success story is not the result of rafter-ringing oratory. Preacher Allen speaks simply, seldom raises his voice, and uses few gestures. He emphasizes Christian daily living and prayer; instead of preaching hellfire & damnation, he is inclined to say simply: "You'll be happier if you live this way." Explains Allen: "We never do anything sensational. My idea is never to do anything at one service you can't do at the next. Sensation-making is like taking dope--you can't quit."

But, in his quiet way, Charles Allen perhaps gets as much done for the glory of God as a platoon of pulpit-pounders. He averages ten sermons a week (his Sunday-evening services draw Atlantans of all denominations). In addition to his newspaper column, he conducts a Sunday-afternoon radio broadcast, edits a monthly magazine for ministers (Pulpit Preaching, circ. 3,000). At least twice a month he preaches a five-day revival in some Southern town; almost every day he speaks before some club or civic group. And his telephone rings. Twenty-five to 30 times a day, his phone brings calls from people who want help--often total strangers. Drunks, he finds, are "especially repentant about 2 o'clock in the morning."

In a short time, Pastor Allen has become one of Atlanta's leading citizens: when he was in the hospital last summer, newspapers carried daily reports of his condition. The publicity has not taken his mind off what he is trying to do. "I try to study people and to study the Gospel, and apply one to the other."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.