The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) was born from the passion of one man - Albert Benjamin (A. B.) Simpson - to see Christians from all denominations join together to experience Jesus on deeper level, and to spread the knowledge of Jesus to all the people of the earth, in particular to those who had no opportunity to hear about him.

 

A. B. Simpson was a Canadian Presbyterian pastor who eventually ended up leading a church in New York City. Frustrated by his church’s unwillingness to accept a large group of Italian immigrants who had become Christians, Simpson resigned his pastoral ministry in 1881 and began holding meetings open to people from all denominations and all social classes. 

 

By 1887, Simpson had formed two organizations: The Christian Alliance, which aggressively shared about Jesus and invited people to know the fullness of Jesus’ work as their Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King; and the Missionary Alliance, which sought to train and send missionaries around the world to share Jesus where he was not known. These two organizations merged a few years later and became known as The Christian and Missionary Alliance (usually known as “The Alliance”). Meetings began spreading around the US and Canada, and workers were sent throughout the world.

 

Although Simpson never intended to start another denomination, churches began to form around the mission, and eventually leadership was forced to acknowledge that it was, in fact, now a denomination. The work continued to spread, with the Canadian branch eventually becoming self-governing in 1983. The Alliance now has around 440 churches in Canada, and many churches and workers throughout the entire world.