The C&MA began as a missions sending agency in the 1880s. The founder, A.B. Simpson, was a Presbyterian minister in New York City who had a heart for the people of the world who did not know Jesus Christ. The earliest missionaries went to places like West Africa, China and Israel. Even today our denomination is best known as a missionary denomination with about 1,000 American missionaries partnering with Christians around the world in telling people about Jesus and starting churches.

Our message since the early days has been to preach Jesus Christ. The "four-fold gospel" articulated by our founder says that Jesus Christ is our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. This is reflected in our logo which includes the Cross representing Salvation through Jesus, the Laver representing Sanctification through the cleansing work of Jesus Christ, the Pitcher symbolizing oil for divine Healing because of Jesus, and the Crown referring to the anticipated return of Jesus Christ to earth.

Read the C&MA Statement of Faith here.
For more information, visit the national C&MA Web Site at www.cmalliance.org or the New Jersey/New York Metropolitan District Web Site at www.metrocma.org.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an alliance of evangelical believers, joined together in local churches, committed to fulfilling the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 28:19 and 20 instruct us, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (NIV Bible).

We are Christian because we believe and follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We are missionary because we are committed to reaching unreached people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Our mission statement reads:
"Our mission is to know Jesus Christ; exalt Him as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King; and complete His Great Commission."

• Evangelizing and discipling persons throughout the United States, and
• Incorporating them into Christ-centered, community-focused congregations,
• Mobilizing them for active involvement in a missionary effort designed to plant Great Commission churches among both unreached and responsive peoples worldwide.

Argentina • Australia • Bahamas • Bolivia • Brazil • Burkina Faso • Cambodia • Canada • Chile • Colombia • Congo • Costa Rica • Côte d'Ivoire • Dominican Republic • Ecuador • France • French Guiana • Gabon • Germany • Great Britain • Guatemala • Guinea • Hong Kong • Hungary • India • Indonesia • Israel • Japan • Jordan • Laos • Lebanon • Malaysia • Mali • Mexico • Myanmar • Netherlands • New Zealand • Nigeria • Pakistan • Paraguay • Peru • Philippines • Poland • Puerto Rico • Russia • South Korea • Spain • Suriname • Syria • Taiwan • Thailand • United States • Uruguay • Venezuela • Vietnam • Zaire

What do Alliance people believe?

The Alliance emphasizes the need for genuine spiritual conversion to Christ, a Spirit-filled life, and effective service. The doctrinal statement of The Christian and Missionary Alliance was adopted in 1965. It has been reaffirmed in succeeding years and stands as our statement of evangelical belief. We teach the centrality of Christ expressed as "Jesus Christ - Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King."

What makes The Christian and Missionary Alliance different?

The Christian and Missionary Alliance is a missionary denomination committed to evangelism, discipleship, and church planting among unreached and responsive peoples worldwide. We train and send into service only those who are sound in faith, filled with the Spirit of God, and have a passion for reaching those without Christ.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance is committed to good stewardship. In the use of funds, we practice economy consistent with efficiency.

The Alliance message is that the Person of Jesus Christ is adequate to meet the needs of the whole man. He is exalted as:

• the living Word of God
• the supreme Revelation of divine love
• the sacrificial Lamb of God who alone provides salvation for mankind
• the sufficient One for every need of body and soul; the only hope for a world of lost people
• the Coming King.

Our emphasis on the Person of Jesus Christ grows out of an unswerving loyalty to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture. Our emphasis on holy living and the Holy Spirit's power for service grows out of the clear teaching in the New Testament epistles and the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself.

How is The Christian and Missionary Alliance governed?

In the United States

The National Office of the Alliance is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The administrative staff includes the president; four vice presidents who oversee the Divisions of Church Ministries, Overseas Ministries, General Services, and Finance; and a number of directors who administer the Alliance work.

Each year pastors, administrators, and lay delegates from local Alliance churches gather for an annual General Council, the highest legislative body in the Alliance, to formulate policies for coming years. These policies are administered by a 28-member Board of Managers and carried out by the staff of the National Office and the district offices. Each local church has a personal voice in national and district policy by sending its pastor and lay delegates to Council and district conferences. The local church is governed by the "Constitution for Churches" found in the Manual of The Christian and Missionary Alliance.

Each church holds an annual missions conference and receives Faith Promises, which are the basis for funding the worldwide work of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. Missionaries are paid allowances. This enables them, without having to worry about their financial support, to preach the gospel overseas and, while on home assignment, to challenge Alliance churches to greater missions involvement.

In Canada

The Canadian National Office is located in Willowdale, Ontario. Pastors, administrators, and lay delegates from local churches gather biennially for General Assembly, which is the highest legislative body of the Alliance in Canada. Policies approved by General Assembly are administered by a 14-member Board of Directors and carried out by the National Office staff and district offices. The national leadership consists of the president and four vice presidents responsible for Canadian Ministries, Overseas Ministries, General Services, and Finance.

Each local church has a voice in national Alliance policy as well as the policy of the district in which it is located. Each church sends a pastor and lay delegates to General Assembly and to district conferences. District conferences convene in the intervening years between General Assemblies. The district and local churches are governed by the "Constitution for Districts and Local Churches" found in the Manual of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada.

The annual missions conference held in each church brings Alliance ministries from the four corners of the globe into the four walls of a local church. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the support of Alliance ministries overseas and in Canada through a Faith Promise-a promise to give a certain amount to missions in dependence upon God. This enables national leadership to foresee future income and plan a budget that provides the financial base for advancing ministries.

What is the historical background of the Alliance?

The Alliance traces its roots to the ministry and vision of Dr. Albert B. Simpson. A Presbyterian clergyman motivated by the spiritual needs of the metropolitan multitudes in North America, as well as by those of the unevangelized peoples in other lands, Dr. Simpson launched a vibrant ministry of evangelism and Bible teaching. He was joined by people from varied denominational backgrounds who also desired to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. They were compelled by a sense of urgency to take this message to all nations because of Jesus' statement in Matthew 24:14: "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (NIV Bible).

This new mission society soon became a major evangelical movement. Today it is a growing missionary denomination committed to evangelism around the world through church planting.

So, what is the Alliance?

Many observers over the years have attempted to analyze how The Christian and Missionary Alliance accomplishes so much and so effectively maximizes its resources. The answer is found in the loyalty and commitment to the New Testament principles of world evangelism and discipleship held by those who make up the C&MA. Alliance people function as worthy stewards of God's resources. Their generosity in giving and loyal support of C&MA ministries make the Alliance what it is.