The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), began in 1884 as a missionary society under the inspiration and leadership of Dr. A. B. Simpson, who left the pastorate of a large Presbyterian church in New York City to concentrate on outreach. Dr. Simpson’s vision and zeal to reach the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ drew coworkers from many different Protestant denominations, and a powerful missions movement began. In 1974, after nearly a century of effort and church planting worldwide, the Alliance officially became a denomination.
Today the Alliance is a very international group, with over 13,600 churches in 88+ countries in the Alliance World Fellowship! The United States is only the third-largest national group. Alliance partners include four colleges and seminaries, camping and youth ministries, retirement communities, and our development branch.
A full statement of faith is found at http://www.cmalliance.org/about/beliefs/doctrine.
Let me try to pin some labels on our denomination that may help you understand a bit about us, but please remember that labels are only a snapshot and you need a fuller picture to truly understand who we are. We are Protestant and evangelical, which means we consider the Bible to be our source for truth and practice. We may also be described as a hybrid between a Baptist church and a Methodist church. In other words, we hold some beliefs and practices that are common to both of those groups.
But let me hasten to add that Christians from a variety of backgrounds have found a home in Alliance churches because our main thing is Jesus, and who wouldn’t be comfortable with that? We also have a very real emphasis on world missions. We take seriously that “God so loved the world…” So we do too. I would say the “typical” Alliance church is made up of many more people who did NOT grow up in the Alliance, but for some reason found their way to an Alliance church, and then it “stuck.”
For a much better explanation of who we are as an Alliance church, please see the link to our denominational home page. You may also peruse the “About Us” tab on our home page. There you will find our history and information on our worldwide fellowship.