Division of Biblical Studies-
Faculty

Dr. Holly Catterton Allen
Professor of Christian Ministries
Director of the Child & Family Studies Program

Course Syllabi:
Nurturing Spiritual Development in Children
Creating Curriculum for Children in Christian Settings

Holly Allen came to JBU in 2003. She directs the Child and Family Studies program at JBU, teaching courses such as Critical Concerns with Children, Nurturing Spiritual Development in Children, and the Senior Seminar for Child and Family Studies (CFS) majors, as well as supervising CFS internships. She has taught graduate courses on children’s spirituality at JBU as well as in Hong Kong, at Talbot School of Theology, and at Lipscomb University. Dr. Allen received the JBU Faculty Excellence Award in 2009 (Faculty of the Year award).

Dr. Allen's areas of scholarly interest are children's spirituality and intergenerational issues. She speaks regularly at conferences and churches concerning these issues, and has written about them in several journals; she has also written chapters in several books. Her first book, Nurturing Children’s Spirituality: Christian Perspectives and Best Practices (Cascade, 2008), is the edited volume of the best papers presented at the 2006 Children's Spirituality Conference: Christian Perspectives, held at Concordia University near Chicago. She is a founding member and ongoing Planning Team member for the conference, which meets every three years. At the June 2009 conference, Dr. Allen and three of her students presented a paper entitled:  “How Parents Nurture the Spiritual Development of Their Children:  Insights From Recent Qualitative Research” (see picture). Dr. Allen is currently working on a book on intergenerational faith formation.

Dr. Allen has studied at Harding University (B.A.), University of Iowa (M.A.), Abilene Christian University, and Talbot School of Theology (La Mirada, CA, Ph.D., 2002). Before coming to JBU, Dr. Allen taught at Abilene Christian University (Abilene, TX) and Biola University (La Mirada, CA). She has also taught and worked with public schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Iowa, and Texas, and has worked in children's ministries with churches in Tennessee and Texas. For ten years she was actively involved with pro-life issues in Texas at the state and local level.

Dr. Allen and her husband (Dr. Leonard Allen) have taught together in many settings around the world including Hungary, Bulgaria, and Japan. They have three adult children and four grandchildren. They enjoy hiking in the wilderness areas of Northwest Arkansas and playing racquetball together.