Albert Benjamin Simpson resigned from his pastorate at a prestigious Presbyterian Church in lower Manhattan because the church leadership did not want to receive the immigrants he was reaching down at the docks. He set out in faith to establish a church in NYC where all were welcome.

Prostitutes, longshoremen, and the homeless received the reconciliation message: God’s grace is for all people. He then went on to establish the New York Gospel Tabernacle to help bring likeminded people together into an organization that could facilitate outreach ministries.

Simpson empowered men and women to reach the poor and disenfranchised. He advocated for education to immigrants and women, and he started a missionary training institute, now Nyack College, where all were welcome to be trained as missionaries for international assignments.

Simpson not only preached the Gospel; he shared the healing power of Jesus for physical healing, emotional healing, and mental healing. Simpson delivered a message of a deeper life that all people can have with God for holistic freedom and transformation.

For decades this missionary movement continued as an alliance of congregations, then in 1974, The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) officially became a denomination. Today, the Alliance includes nearly 2,000 churches in the U.S. and ministers in over 62 countries to over 70 people groups.