12/21/2025
A tribute to Dennis Allen (from Kirk Kirkland & Lifeway Worship):
Ecclesiastes chapter 3 says,
“There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: a time to give birth and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance...”
Today (December 19, 2025), we will be celebrating the life of Dennis Allen in Nashville, TN at Judson Baptist Church. It will be a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance. We are mourning our loss, and celebrating all the ways that Dennis gave himself away in service to his family, and the Church, and the LORD.
Dennis and Nan Allen are the reason I have been a part of the Judson Baptist story for the last 30 years. They are dear friends to me and my family. They first moved to Nashville in the 1980’s to do ministry work for the Baptist Sunday School Board, now known as Lifeway Christian Resources. And they have written, arranged, and produced countless songs, musicals and collections that have been distributed through Lifeway Worship in the last 4 decades. This music was for all generations to sing. Dennis understood the critical importance of raising the next generation of worshipers and worship leaders. He understood the need for songs that point us to the Savior, and arranging them in a way that could be easily learned and beautifully presented as an offering of worship.
Dennis will be greatly missed by his family, and his friends; by his church family, and by the Church at large. The Kingdom is more beautiful and more vast because of the way that Dennis (and Nan) have spent their time and talent!
“One generation will declare your works to the next and will proclaim your mighty acts...They will give a testimony of your great goodness and will joyfully sing of your righteousness.” Psalm 145:4 & 7
~ Kirk
