Is Jennie Allen A False Teacher?

Category 4

Verdict: The IF:Gathering Conference is a Social Justice cesspool, and it always has been.

Preface

Part of how this Discernment ministry operates is taking in reader questions about prevalent teachers. Jennie Allen held the lead for the most active requests at the start of this research. You can make a request here and see our answered verdicts here.

Background

Jennie Allen is the founder of the IF:Gathering, a female focused conference which that began in 2014. She is also the host of the Made For This podcast. She has been a frequent speaker at churches and conferences.

Association With False Teachers

The IF:Gathering conference has invited all sorts of problematic teachers, put mildly.

In 2022, the IF:Gathering hosted woke activist Justin Giboney; the vacuous Sadie Robertson Huff; Bianca Olthoff best known for reading Cardi B into Scripture; female foursquare pastor Hosanna Wong; false teacher Francis Chan; Matt Chandler; Jonathan Pokluda; Christine Caine, and more.[1]

In 2021, some additional names include David Platt; John Mark Comer; woke author Trillia Newbell; prosperity preacher Mike Todd; race hustler LaTasha Morrison, and more. It appears, 2021 had an emphasis on Social Justice.[2]

In 2020, additional names include false teacher Beth Moore and Louie Giglio’s wife, Shelly Giglio.[3]

In 2023, the IF:Gathering will have John Mark Comer, Sadie Robertson Huff, Lauren Chandler, Christine Caine, Bianca Olthoff, David Platt, Hosanna Wong, and more.

While these associations aren’t sufficient on their own to label Jennie Allen as a false teacher, they present major red flags.

Egalitarianism

Jennie Allen is egalitarian, in that she believes in female pastors as shown in her actions. Jennie Allen has no qualms about preaching in front of men. She most frequently preaches or teaches on Sunday at David Marvin’s The Porch, in Dallas, Texas.

Egalitarianism is a heresy, but it’s one that many have grown up in. It’s unclear what her theological tradition was in order to track a change, but she’s currently operating as a female teacher who does not hold the office of pastor. It’s perhaps worse the fact that she platforms female pastors regularly.

Enneagram

Jennie Allen is a proponent of the Enneagram which is a new age personality test that has been sold as a Christian version of Myers Briggs in the church. Apparently, she’s a type 7 which is surprising to those within the new age practice.[4]

Is Jennie Allen Woke?

As noted in the description of IF:Gathering 2021, Jennie Allen’s conference had taken a turn in a woke direction, being their first conference post George Floyd.

But IF:Gathering was from the beginning branded as a Evangelical women’s conference focused on Social Justice.[5] They’ve always platformed feminists and woke pastors. Jennie Allen would write the forward to Latasha Morrison’s book Be The Bridge.[6] It’s safe to conclude that Jennie Allen is woke; however, she is a passenger on this train and not the one conducting it. But it’s worth noting on the book’s Amazon page, IF:Gathering is the first conference mentioned among the conferences that Morrison has spoken at. It’s reasonable to conclude that Jennie Allen has given rise to this woke teacher.

On Homosexuality

Homosexuality is a proxy issue for a teacher’s views on the authority of Scritpure as well as an obvious test of compromise with the world. Because the IF:Gathering had bolstered false teacher Jen Hatmaker, Jennie Allen issued a response on this issue in a statement now scrubbed from her website.[7] She begins:

Many want me to issue a statement, because their local churches around the world have entrusted us with their women. I have a few drafts open on my computer, but this is so much more than a statement for me. This is not about some “Christian celebrity” out there, this is my friend whom I have logged a lot of life with–including hours over the past many months about this very topic.  While we disagree on this important issue, Jen and I love each other and agree on so many things. Jen speaking at IF:Gathering isn’t even on the table, because she took herself out of IF many months ago for reasons that are her own.

Concerning where IF and I land here: Nothing has changed. I lean on 2000 years of Church history and we continue to hold an orthodox view of marriage. Our commitment to Scripture is a guiding value: We believe the God of the Universe reveals and defines Himself through His Word. We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, are verbally inspired by God, fully trustworthy and of supreme and final authority in what they say.  (Including in regards to sexual ethics.)

And guess what? If you disagree with that or if you have yet to land on the above statement- we are also deeply committed to building a safe place for you and all people to come and experience and know Jesus and consider Him. All people are welcome at IF- I just want to be clear that from the stage we are giving you the Bible and Jesus when you come.

What the above sentences don’t say, is that each time I attempted to write a “statement,” I cried, eventually falling asleep because I was physically exhausted trying to put down words that might be used to drive a relational wedge between me and someone I love so dearly and hurt members of the LGBTQ community, many who are friends.

There are some qualifications or compromises to be seen here, but these are typical, even of orthodox teachers and celebrities. But the statement gets very ecumenical from there.

When IF began 3 years ago, I believed the way through for us would always be keep things SIMPLE and PURE. Humbly focus on the BIBLE and JESUS. We would hold tightly to the Nicene Creed which has defined orthodoxy for nearly 2000 years. See, we aren’t the local church and so we didn’t have to speak into every topic… this would not be a time to gather around the issues, this would be a place to gather around Jesus.   

Was it naive? You bet.  

Except that 3 years later, I see it happening… online in Facebook groups, in cities where 20-30 churches are coming together, at dinner tables over a meal and intentional honest conversations, and this past February over a million women gathered from nearly every denomination in Christendom and in over 125 countries around Christ. You see, even in the messiness of it all I’m more convinced than ever that God is using our humble offerings of tools and experiences for women to grow as disciples and make disciples. 

Many theological liberals appeal to the Nicene Creed as though this statement is sufficient for the entirety of Church history at defining orthodox beliefs and practices, when in fact they deny obvious biblical teachings. Jennie Allen does no such thing here after appealing to the Nicene Creed, which is commendable.

On Abortion

Jennie Allen believes that the pro-abortion side is acting on compassion for the mother which is a grossly unbiblical take.[8] This is ultimately nondeterminative for the verdict, but is an interesting side note.

Conclusion

Jennie Allen is a conference organizer and a self-help guru, but she’s not much of a Bible teacher. Even worse, she seems to be the type of teacher that will gravitate towards the latest fad. This has included the Enneagram and Social Justice. Many false teachers know they can’t openly support homosexuality, and perhaps that is Allen’s reason for not doing so, but there is insufficient evidence to suggest she is personally compromised on this issue. Lucky for her that Jen Hatmaker broke off from her conference for an unspecified reason.

Jennie Allen has a large platform and zero discernment. Put charitably, it’s not her spiritual gift, and therefore, false teachers gravitate towards her platform for their own grift. The alternative conclusion is that she actively promotes the false teachings of others and is a proving ground for false teachers. There is considerable evidence for this. Additionally, it should be noted that she, like Louie Giglio is a mentor of false teachers. Whereas Louie Giglio has raised up Sadie Robertson Huff to a position she is neither called nor suited for, Jennie Allen has done the same thing with Huff, Morrison, and others. She’s also a clout chaser as she has managed to snag some big names for her events. Mike Todd went viral in April 2020, so she made sure to book him for IF:Gathering 2021. Wokeness was big in 2020, so she booked a bunch of woke activists.

There’s a level of business savvy at work here. Jennie Allen correctly understands the temperature of the room, from a certain point of view. And she organizes her conferences accordingly. 2023 looks like it will focus on “trauma culture.”

The question as to whether Jennie Allen is a false teacher comes down to whether or not we should view her as saved or unsaved. Is it conceivable a Christian business woman with no discernment would platform people such as the speakers of the IF:Gathering? Unfortunately, yes. Is it believable? Not in this case. Is it conceivable that a genuine Christian would put their authorship to a race hustler’s woke book? No. Jennie Allen likely wrote the forward to market the book to white women.

The IF:Gathering Conference is a Social Justice cesspool, and it always has been. Every one of its speakers, past and present, should be viewed with suspicion for having spoken there.

Evangelical Dark Web does find sufficient evidence to mark and avoid Jennie Allen, with the ultimate hope that she will repent of her false teaching grift.

[1] https://app.rightnowmedia.org/en/content/details/742396

[2] https://app.rightnowmedia.org/en/content/details/529638

[3] https://app.rightnowmedia.org/en/content/details/450275

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWrCIaXBUCo

[5] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/if-gathering-evangelical-women_n_4776930

[6] https://amzn.to/3x1EIYU

[7] https://web.archive.org/web/20190202120312/http://www.jennieallen.com:80/i-believe-in-us-church/

[8] https://www.jennieallen.com/blog/ask-jennie-anything-part-2