The Rev. James C. Allen, 79, went to be with the Lord on Friday, Aug. 27, 2010.
Born in Newport, Ark., he had been a Virginia resident since 1978, serving as pastor in the PCA in Petersburg and Newport News.

“Jimmy” as he was universally known grew up in Memphis and attended Memphis State University, where he met his wife Mary Lou. They were married just before he finished college. They moved to El Dorado, Arkansas and were members of First Presbyterian Church. Jimmy was a successful salesman for Lederle Pharmaceuticals. He was a good golfer, a member of the El Dorado Country Club and a Deacon at First Presbyterian. But after committing his life to Christ, those things seemed a bit empty.

Along with another couple from the church, they became involved in a Campus Crusade for Christ Lay Ministry being conducted in the town’s Methodist church and both couples were converted during that time. Julie Monroe, one of that group, has written a description of that period in Jimmy’s life and the subsequent results:

We knew Jimmy for years when we all lived in El Dorado, Arkansas, but we weren’t good friends until we all – Jimmy & Mary Lou, Henry & I – became Christians at about the same time through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

I remember once when he was on a business trip for Lederle – he knew all the doctors and pharmacists in the district and they all like him a lot – he came home insisting that we all had to go to Dermott, Arkansas, a couple of hours away to go to a revival he had been attending at a local Baptist church. After the revival we all had dinner at a Chinese restaurant and got home about 2 AM. What a great night, and also what a picture of where Jimmy’s heart was.

We have been close ever since – all of us – children roomates at Covenant College, in each other’s weddings, vacationing together, etc. About a year after becoming a believer, Jimmy felt a call to go into the ministry. Since the PCUS church we were attending was – if not apostate, close to it – we all soon felt a need for a Bible teaching church and went to the Methodist church that had sponsored the Campus Crusade Lay Institute. After a few months there, we realized the church didn’t live up to the gospel teaching we were looking for. So when Jimmy decided to go to seminary he passed on the Presbyterian and Methodist seminaries since his experience with those churches had been negative. Jerry Falwell was starting a new seminary in Lynchburg, VA which was supposed to be free – and they didn’t have a lot of money – so a Baptist seminary seemed like a good idea.

We had started going to the Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship Conferences and persuaded the Allens to join us there. After that we met at PEF conference every summer for years. At the first conference they went to, they met some very nice women who went to Rivermont Presbyterian in Lynchburg. They visited Rivermont and began to go to church there. Lowell Sikes, the Rivermont pastor, was a true believer and always a good friend to Jimmy, although the Thomas Road church people weren’t crazy about Jim’s going to a different church. Jimmy told me once that Liberty Seminary was fine as far as Greek and Hebrew and some Bible courses were concerned, but he came to love reformed doctrine, and this made him a bit of a misfit at Liberty. When he graduated from Liberty he was called to pastor Tabb Street Presbyterian Church in Petersburg, VA. Later he was pastor of The Coventry Church, PCA in Hampton Roads, VA.

Jimmy never had a huge church or a huge congregation, but he had a deep influence on everyone who came within his circle. I know of at least 3 young men who became pastors due to Jim’s influence, and several young people who went to Covenant College because they met Jim and Mary Lou. They were the kind of people who always had an open door and an open table. And I can truly say I have never met anyone with a deeper love for the Reformed Faith than James Allen. Add to that his genuine love for people and you have a powerful combination. They also have some of the greatest kids you would ever have the pleasure of meeting.

It’s difficult to imagine a world without Jimmy in it. We will miss his smile and loving presence. I know Mary Lou and the children – Randy, Alisa, Bradley and Blair – and all the grandchildren will miss him. How thankful we are that we know this is not the last or best time that we will see him. Thanks for your interest in Jim. I really can’t think of enough good things to say about him. We just feel very blessed to have been his friends.

Julie and Henry are in Virginia to be with Mary Lou during this week.

The Aquila Report contacted Lowell Sikes to seek his comments about the Lynchburg events, and he sent us this response;

I’m very sorry to learn of Jim’s death. He was a great encouragement to me when I first arrived at Rivermont Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg in 1974. Although he had been raised a Presbyterian, after he was grown, he was converted to Christ in a Baptist Church setting. Rivermont was his first Presbyterian experience where the explicit Gospel (Jesus Christ crucified, risen and coming again) was preached with clear calls for repentance, faith and obedience. When once exposed to it, he “ate up” the Reformed Faith according to the Bible interpreted by the Westminster Standards.

While he was at seminary at what was then called Lynchburg Baptist, now “Liberty,” he worked for our church part time to help us with Christian Education. A couple of years ago he came all the way to Lynchburg from eastern VA to see me. We had not been together in years. What a happy reunion that was! I look forward to seeing him one day at the feet of Our Lord in glory.

Lowell

In an email exchange with PCA Teaching Elder Tim Keller, now lead pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, but back then in his initial pastorate at the West Hopewell PCA Church, Tim reminded us of the early days of Mid-Atlantic Presbytery when Jimmy was ordained. (I arrived in that Presbytery in 1979 and got to know Jimmy then – Don Clements.)

Back then Mid-Atlantic’s boundaries started at the Virginia/North Carolina border and when all the way to Maine. The northern most church was in West Springfield, MA. Tim recalled that back then our ‘pedigree’ wasn’t as important as it is these days. While Jimmy may indeed be the first graduate of Liberty Seminary, what was important was the candidate’s commitment to the Reformed faith. (Obviously, the discipleship he received at Rivermont did well!)

Tim also recalls that the examination in the area of Sacraments, especially Baptism, was more extensive than the rest, but at the end of the day, he passed the exam without any problems.

(The Aquila Report will try to get additional remembrances from the folks who attend the memorial service.)

Jimmy is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Mary Lou Allen; four children, James Randal Allen and wife, Lana, and Alisa Adams and husband, Stephen, both of Richmond, Bradley M. Allen and wife, Jennifer, of Newport News, and Blair M. Allen and wife, Melinda of Chesapeake. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life service will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1677 Jamestown Rd., Williamsburg, VA. Arrangements are by Weymouth Funeral Home.