Bridging inherited traditions into a bigger Christian world

Leonard Allen’s newest book offers a heartfelt memoir exploring the intersection of inherited faith, personal discovery and the transformative power of forgiveness.

Keely Hagan | 615-966-6491  |  04/28/2024

In his latest book released May 7, The Bookroom: Remembrance and Forgiveness—A Memoir, Leonard Allen, dean of the College of Bible and Ministry, shares a number of personal yet familiar stories centered around his father’s bookroom. This intimate space, filled with books that sparked Allen’s curiosity and fueled his intellectual pursuits as a boy, serves as the starting point for his journey to comprehend the faith he inherited—a journey that has shaped him into a theologian, scholar and writer.

A well-established authority on the history and theology of the Churches of Christ, Allen has taught Bible, theology, ethics and philosophy at five Christian universities and seminaries. He speaks widely at churches and colleges, and has authored and co-authored 15 books that primarily explore the history and theological trajectory of the Restoration Movement, the roots of modern Churches of Christ.

Referencing Christian writer and novelist Frederick Buechner’s insight that “At its heart, most theology, like much fiction, is essentially autobiography,” Allen acknowledges that truth in his memoir.

“The memoir gives a glimpse into what was happening to me behind the scenes while I was engaged in theological and historical research and writing books about what I found. It’s about my own journey, my own need for discovery. Early on,” he says, “I launched out into the wilds of the Christian tradition, trying to find answers to my childhood questions. And I found over the years that a lot of people, who didn’t have time to spend a whole career doing this, had those same kinds of questions.”

Navigating the tension between one particular tradition and the broader Christian tradition is a central theme in Allen’s memoir. Using the metaphor of building a bridge from an island to the mainland, he says, “Much of my work over the last 40 years has been helping people cross the bridge into a bigger Christian world. That larger world can help one better understand one’s own heritage and gain new appreciation for its strengths.” ​​

Raised within a very strict tradition, he found himself compelled to explore a more expansive understanding of the Christian life as he grew older. “When trying to move into a broader outlook on what it means to be a Christian,” he says, “I began to realize that there is a much longer, richer history here than I ever knew.”

Forgiveness emerges as another key theme throughout Allen's narrative, addressing both the act of forgiving others and the need for forgiveness oneself. Through poignant reflections on his relationship with his father and his own church heritage, Allen explores the complexities and blessings of forgiveness.

In his blurb for the book Mike Cope of Pepperdine University says, “This is sad, honest, funny, instructive—brilliant. Masterful, really. The very best of a memoir.”

Allen did not set out to write a memoir and even still has some nervousness about releasing it. “Writing a memoir is a fraught undertaking,” he says. “I was always reluctant to make it public, even down to the point of submitting it to the publisher.

“I started writing some of the stories without a vision for it. I was simply doing it for my daughter, who asked me to write some stories about my life. She gave me a one-year subscription to Storyworth (an online storytelling service) for a birthday gift and so I wanted to honor her request, her gift. She was my first reader.”

“I wrote some episodes about my childhood and my father and my church, and to my unending surprise after a few weeks of practice, I took to the regimen of story writing. The stories began to flow, and a vision and a plan emerged. That’s where my wife Holly became indispensable. She became my second reader, giving me perspective and proportionality.”

As the project grew, Allen sought guidance from a small troupe of writers and friends. One was Dana Chamblee Carpenter, an associate professor who teaches American literature and creative writing at Lipscomb and is author of the popular Bohemian Trilogy. Carpenter describes Allen’s memoir as captivating, with gorgeous writing and an inviting message. “The voice is so strong and the detail so rich,” she says, “that I was pulled into the place and time.” She assisted him with suggestions for strengthening the structure of the memoir.

“This all began,” he says, “with the big questions from my childhood which took shape in my father’s bookroom beginning about age eight. I can truly say that I have found good answers to those questions. The trouble is that those answers have had an uncanny way of stirring up new questions, and that’s the way it should be, I think, in a God-created world full of wonder and mystery.”