I respect and appreciate your spiritual and professional opinions and thank you all very much for your hard work.<\/p>\n
Have you ever heard of the C&MA — Christian and Missionary Alliance?<\/p>\n\t
The Christian and Missionary Alliance started in the late 1800s as two societies dedicated to spreading Christianity. Over time, the societies merged and very shortly formed a denomination. In beliefs, the Christian and Missionary Alliance is very similar to the Methodists, having branched out of the same “Holiness” movement that gave rise to the Methodists, Church of the Nazarene, and the Assemblies of God. The Christian and Missionary Alliance is the most conservative of these types of churches.<\/p>\n
They believe the passages recording Jesus’ promises to the apostles apply to all believers. Thus, “The Holy Spirit is a divine person, sent to indwell, guide, teach, empower the believer, and convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment” [Christian and Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith<\/a>]. They believe in the direct guidance of believers by the Holy Spirit, though they don’t go so far as other groups in claiming charismatic gifts, such as speaking in tongues or miraculous healings.<\/p>\n Like many denominations, they are heavily influenced by John Calvin’s teachings. They believe in sin inherited from Adam, “All men are born with a sinful nature, are separated from the life of God, and can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ” [Christian and Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith<\/a>]. Seeing baptism as a work, they believe in salvation by faith alone. “Salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all men; and those who repent and believe in Him are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life, and become the children of God” [Christian and Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith<\/a>]. Notice how this statement twists Peter’s statement in Acts 2:38.<\/p>\n Like other Holiness groups, they believe in two levels of salvation. There is conversion, and then there is sanctification as a separate step. “It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly, being separated from sin and the world and fully dedicated to the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service. This is both a crisis and a progressive experience wrought in the life of the believer subsequent to conversion” [Christian and Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith<\/a>].<\/p>\n They are premillennialists, believing that Jesus’s second coming is to establish a kingdom on earth. “The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent and will be personal, visible, and premillennial” [Christian and Missionary Alliance Statement of Faith<\/a>].<\/p>\n In organization, the Christian and Missionary Alliance is the ultimate authority (not the Bible, though their bylaws state otherwise). Members must acknowledge their acceptance of the denomination’s teachings: “Full sympathy with the mission and core values of The Christian and Missionary Alliance and cooperation by systematic support of its work” [The Manual of the Christian and Missionary Alliance<\/a>, Section A5]. Ministers must acknowledge the church’s authority: “Understanding of and commitment to the mission, vision, core values, and distinctives of the C&MA, and willingness to submit to constituted authority as defined by the Board of Directors of the C&MA” [The Manual of the Christian and Missionary Alliance<\/a>, Section E3]. A central authority controls membership and congregations: “A developing Christian and Missionary Alliance church with at least 20 adults who have completed a membership class, confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and signed the Christian and Missionary Alliance application for membership may petition the district superintendent to become an organized church” [The Manual of the Christian and Missionary Alliance<\/a>, Section E15]. Thus, the organization and its decisions in practice exceed the teachings in the Bible.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I respect and appreciate your spiritual and professional opinions and thank you all very much for your hard work. Have you ever heard of the C&MA — Christian and Missionary Alliance? Answer: The Christian and Missionary Alliance started in the late 1800s as two societies dedicated to spreading Christianity. Over time, the societies merged…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1235,300],"class_list":["post-24961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-christian-and-missionary-alliance","tag-denominations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14544,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-it-alright-to-go-to-a-denomination-if-a-faithful-church-isnt-close\/","url_meta":{"origin":24961,"position":0},"title":"Isn’t it alright to go to a denomination if a faithful church isn’t close?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a member of the church of Christ and my children have started going to an Alliance Missionary church. There is not a church of Christ close to them, and the one that is 20 miles away does not have young people. I don't want to discourage them,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82749,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/division-in-the-restoration-movement\/","url_meta":{"origin":24961,"position":1},"title":"Division in the Restoration Movement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 5, No. 1, January-March, 2025 As a reminder, when we talk about the Restoration Movement, we refer to the religious movement that began around the start of the nineteenth century in the United States and endeavored to restore the doctrines and practices of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5200,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-holiness-movement\/","url_meta":{"origin":24961,"position":2},"title":"The Holiness Movement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: I Thessalonians 5:16-28 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Pietism took off during the 1600's with Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eventually a denomination form that was referred to as the Moravian church \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From here we skip ahead to the early 1700's II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John Wesley (1703-1791) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was raised in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88666,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arguments-against-the-missionary-society\/","url_meta":{"origin":24961,"position":3},"title":"Arguments Against the Missionary Society","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor via\u00a0Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 5 No. 3, July-September 2025 In a previous article, we discussed the Missionary Society, which was the source of the first major controversy and division among those associated with the Restoration Movement. What began as informal \"association\" meetings evolved into formal organizations to which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14171,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-was-sent-out-as-the-first-missionary\/","url_meta":{"origin":24961,"position":4},"title":"Who was sent out as the first missionary?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who was sent out as the first missionary? Answer: The answer depends on how tightly you want to define the word \"missionary.\" It isn't a word used in the Scriptures, so we can't apply a Greek or Hebrew definition to the word. Technically, \"missionary\" means someone sent on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30900,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-person-leaving-the-christian-church-need-to-be-baptized-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":24961,"position":5},"title":"Does a person leaving the Christian Church need to be baptized again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is your thinking (based on Scripture) on a situation where someone has been baptized in the Christian Church but says they were baptized for the remission of sins and they want to place membership in the church of Christ? Do they need to be baptized again? The argument\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24961\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}