Christian &

Missionary Alliance
Founded by Albert Benjamin
Simpson (A. B. Simpson)
Born December 15, 1843 in
Bayview, Prince Edward Island,
Canada to devout Christian parents
He was converted after reading Walter Marshalls Gospel
Mystery of Salvation
He went to Knox College in Toronto, Canada
Married Margaret Henry
Prolific writer (101 books, many hymns, articles and
booklets)

Became a pastorate in various locations
before ending up in New York where
C&MA was found.
Created the New York Gospel Tabernacle
Created Missionary Training Institute
(MTI) to train people to reach out
His passion was to minister to the immigrants, homeless,
poor, and sick.
His interaction with immigrants got him interested in
evangelizing to other nations.
He started holding evangelistic meetings which eventually
became C&MA

C&MAs current mission is to church plant all
over the world. They achieve this by sending
out more than 800 missionaries to over 50
countries.
Taken from the C&MA website:
The Alliance (C&MA) is a Jesus-centered,
light-bearing missions and church-planting
movement with the deeper life at its heart.
Rather than just a denomination intent on
building its own kingdom, were a people who
go.

GO Video from site:
In terms of church structure:
Members of C&MA very in roles and responsibilities.
There are various C&MA churches and most of them
have similar structure of the pastor(s), deacons and
elders, youth director (person in charge of the
childrens ministry), Worship/choir leader, small group
leaders, regular members.
Members of the church work together to keep things
running (i.e. lunch service, transportation service, etc).
Small group: where members can get more
accountability and personally know one any other.
Baptism: a declaration of beliefalso an act that
unifies them with the church and fellow believers
The members view the church as a family.
They view C&MA (denomination) usually as a
distant overseer of church. Therefore, the
members may not feel a personal connection to
the denomination but they may feel very close
to their church as close as family.

Originally the C&MA was not created to be a
denomination but an outreach organization.
However, over the years C&MA expanded and
eventually became a denomination.
C&MA was originally much smaller but now have
expanded to over 50 countries.
Missionary work may look different from before
since the world has changed a lot. However, it has
stayed true to the purpose and mission of the
institution

What has caused various institutions to
change?

Changes to C&MA came with time and
with modern technology, they are able to
communicate and network even further
out to more countries.
STABLE FEATURES
The overall mission and core beliefs stayed constant
throughout the years:
Main mission: To fulfill the Great Commission as commanded in
the Bible
The Fourfold Gospel: It is A.B. Simpsons belief that Jesus is the
Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. These four aspects
are reflected in the C&MA logo of the cross, cup, pitcher and
crown.
Statement of Faith: Jesus is God and He came into the world to
die for the sins of humanity. Sin leads to death and eternal
judgment. However, if a person puts his trust in Jesus Christ,
their sins are paid in full and are spared from punishment.

Improvements & Accommodations
Individual churches within the denomination may
feel isolated. More interaction between sister
churches may build more network and a new sense
of interconnectedness.
With all the strong focus on outreach to other
countries, there should be more outreaches within
community back here in the States.


Interaction
Leaders within the Church:
Pastor(s)
Elders
Deacons
Teachers (Small group leaders, Sunday School, Children
Ministry)
Ministry Coordinators and leaders.


C&MA Denomination
Church Church Church Church Church
Some may see C&MA as positive charity to
humanity as they do good work all around the
world. C&MA helped out victims during Hurricane
Katrina.

However, some may see C&MA as imperialistic as
they view missionary work in general.


Does your institution work better for
some members of society?
The rise of Christianity first appealed mostly to
females because it promise a level of equality not
found in many cultures.
Originally, C&MAs main focus was to evangelize
to unreached people group in other countries.
Simpsons passion was to reach out to the poor
and impoverished. However, C&MA churches
have also popped up in many parts of America
that are affluent. C&MA is available to people of
all walks of life.

Members of church come together as family to
meet each others needs: emotional, physical,
spiritual, economical.
Sacred community unified by a set of shared
beliefs and values
The denomination supports the church and vice
versa.
C&MA meets the needs of society:
Victims of Hurricane Katrina
Establishing Schools in Third World Countries
Some may interpret C&MA as imperialistic as it goes
to different cultures and introduces western
philosophies.
Doctrines of Christianity subjugates people to
obedience and keeps the poor content
The opiate of the poor (Marx).
Obscure the poor from seeing the world in terms of
politics and prevents them from striving for social
justice.
Creates a false Consciousness in the poor(Marx).

Resources:
Blast, A. (1996). The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History (Book
Review).Social Forces, 75, 1499-1501.
Christian missionary alliance. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cmalliance.org/
C&MA|DNA - The Fourfold Gospel Promo Video (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZw0rXadTv4
Huizing, R. (n.d.). The American Christian & Missionary Alliance in
Research.Academia.edu. Retrieved ,
from http://www.academia.edu/5130698/The_American_Christian_and_Missionar
y_Alliance_in_Research
McGraw, G. (1992). The legacy of a.b. simpson.International Bulletin of Missionary
Research,16(2), 69. Retrieved from
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=4a2bdad9-
8d25-47ad-ac97-
31f1d1a42b60@sessionmgr113&hid=120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==
Smalley, W. (1991). My pilgrimage in mission.International Bulletin of Missionary
Research,15(2), 70. Retrieved from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.pasadena.edu/ehost/detail?sid=7079b60c-a448-
40e2-8b5b-
337a41b23a31@sessionmgr4003&vid=1&hid=4106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3Qtb
Gl2ZQ==
Witt, J. (2013). Soc. (pp. 192-205). New York, New York: McGraw Hill.