The Alliance World Fellowship (or The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA) is an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

It includes 6.2 million members throughout 88 countries within 22,000 churches.

History

The Alliance has its origins in two organizations founded by

Albert Benjamin Simpson Albert Benjamin Simpson (December 15, 1843 – October 29, 1919), also known as A. B. Simpson, was a Canadian preacher, theologian, author, and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), an evangelical denomination with an emphasis ...

in 1887 in

Old Orchard Beach, Maine Old Orchard Beach is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,960 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Located on the inner side of ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, The Christian Alliance, which concentrated on domestic missions, and The Evangelical Missionary Alliance, which focused on overseas missions. These two organizations merged in 1897 to form the Christian and Missionary Alliance.Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition'', Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 156 In 1887, in a series of sermons called The '' Fourfold Gospel'' in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States, which would characterize his teaching, Simpson summarized the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

in four aspects;

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Soon Coming King. The ''Missionary Training Institute'' (later including

Alliance Theological Seminary Alliance Theological Seminary was an evangelical Christian seminary affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, last located in Manhattan. It operated from 1882 to 2023. History The seminary had roots from the Missionary Training Inst ...

), founded in 1882 by Simpson in Nyack, near

, contributed to the development of the union. In the 21st century, the school moved again to New York City and changed its name to Alliance University. After losing its accreditation, Alliance University ceased operations in 2023, with its records transferred to Houghton College. A.B. Simpson was influenced by

Keswickian The Higher Life movement, also known as deeper Christian life, the Keswick movement or Keswickianism ( ), is a Protestant theological tradition within evangelical Christianity that espoused a distinct teaching on the doctrine of entire sanctifi ...

cleric W.E. Boardman in his view of sanctification. During the start of the 20th century, Simpson became closely involved with the growing

Pentecostal movement Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived f ...

. It became common for Pentecostal pastors and missionaries to receive their training at the Missionary Training Institute that Simpson founded. Consequently, Simpson and the Alliance had a great influence on Pentecostalism, in particular the

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

and the

International Church of the Foursquare Gospel The Foursquare Church is an international Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. It lies within the evangelical tradition. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. H ...

. This influence included evangelical emphasis, Alliance doctrine, Simpson's hymns and books, and the use of the term 'Gospel Tabernacle,' which led to many Pentecostal churches being known as 'Full Gospel Tabernacles.' Eventually, there developed severe division within the Alliance over issues surrounding Pentecostalism (such as

speaking in tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid voc ...

and

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of magnetic charm, persuasion, or appeal. In the fields of sociology and political science, psychology, and management, the term ''charismatic'' describes a type of leadership. In Christian theology, the term ...

worship styles). By 1912, this crisis was a catalyst for the emergence of the Alliance as an organized

, shifting more authority to the council and becoming more

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor