The Alliance National Archives
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The 1840s brought: anesthetics, Oregon Trail, California gold rush; U.S. population 17.1 million
1843 — Dr. Albert Benjamin Simpson born December 15 on Prince Edward Island, Canada 1844 — Simpson dedicated to the Lord by missionary John Geddie 1847 — Simpson family moves to Chatham, Ontario 1841 — David Livingstone opens Africa to Christian missions 1844 — YMCA founded in London by Sir George Williams 1846 — World Evangelical Alliance formed in London 1849 — Charles G. Finney holds evangelistic campaigns in England 1844 — First message over telegraph line sent by inventor Samuel F. B. Morse 1848 — Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto in Germany 1849 — Mexican-American War, Texas and California ceded to United States
The 1850s brought: Republican Party, Melville’s Moby Dick, California statehood; U.S. population 23.2 million, World population 1.2 billion
1852 — Simpson believes he is called by God to preach 1858 — Simpson receives divine assurance of his salvation 1851 — YMCA comes to Montreal and Boston 1854 — International Missionary Conference in New York: “Converting the World to Christ;” Illinois Institute (Wheaton College) founded by Jonathan Blanchard 1857 — NYC Fulton Street Revival grows from 6 to 10,000 laymen in six months 1859 — Second Evangelical Awakening in England, more than 1 million converts 1852 — Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin published 1855 — East Africa: 20,000 slaves exported annually by Arabs 1857 — Dred Scott decision by Supreme Court denies slaves’ right to U.S. citizenship 1859 — Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection published
The 1860s brought: women’s suffrage in Wyoming, dynamite, Transcontinental Railroad; U.S. population 31.4 million
1861 — Simpson writes “A Solemn Covenant” to confirm his salvation experience 1861-65 — Simpson attends Knox College, Toronto (1861-65). 1865 — Simpson ordained on September 12, marries Margaret Henry the next day; Simpson pastors Knox Presbyterian Church, Ontario, 750 new members added 1865 — Salvation Army founded by William Booth in England; China Inland Mission (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) founded by J. Hudson Taylor 1869 — Boston Missionary Training School (Gordon College) founded by A. J. Gordon 1861-65 — 620,000 killed during U.S. Civil War 1863 — President Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves 1865 — General Robert E. Lee surrenders, ending Civil War; President Abraham Lincoln assassinated by John Wilkes Booth
The 1870s brought: typewriter, telephone, phonograph, light bulb; U.S. population 38.6 million
1874 — Simpson filled with the Holy Spirit 1874-79 — Simpson pastors Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church, Louisville, Kentucky 1875 — Whittle/Bliss Campaign radically alters Simpson’s view of ministry; Simpson begins evangelistic services in public halls 1879 — Simpson resigns Kentucky pastorate and moves to NYC 1873-74 — Moody/Sankey revivals reach more than 3 million people in Scotland and England 1874 — Oxford Convention of Higher Christian Life, 1,500 ministers attend 1875 — Keswick Convention for higher spiritual life begins 1872 — Yellowstone established by Congress as first national park in United States 1876 — Colorado is the 38th state admitted to the Union 1877 — Colonel George A. Custer’s “last stand” in Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana
The 1880s brought: Sears & Roebuck, post-impressionist art, Geronimo’s surrender; U.S. population 50.2 million
1880 — Simpson produces first U.S. illustrated missionary magazine, The Gospel in All Lands 1880 — Simpson pastors 13th Street Presbyterian Church, New York City 1881 — Simpson resigns NYC pastorate to reach “the unchurched and neglected masses” 1882 — First issue of The Word, The Work, and The World (Alliance Life) published; New York Gospel Tabernacle and Missionary Training Institute (MTI) organized 1883 — The Missionary Union for the Evangelization of the World formed 1884 — C&MA begins ministry in Democratic Republic of the Congo 1886 — A.B. Simpson’s first convention held at Old Orchard Beach, Maine 1887 — Two societies formed: The Christian Alliance and The Evangelical Missionary Alliance (later known as The International Missionary Alliance) 1888 — C&MA begins ministry in China 1881 — Christian Endeavor Movement, first interdenominational youth ministry, spreads nationwide 1886 — Chicago Evangelization Society (Moody Bible Institute) founded 1888 — Student Volunteer Movement for foreign missions coins slogan: “The Evangelization of the World in this Generation;” Centenary Conference on Foreign Missions in London, 1,576 missionaries from 140 agencies attend 1881 — President James A. Garfield shot, dies later of complications 1884 — Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn published 1886 — Statue of Liberty dedicated 1887 — Hunan, China: 900,000 drowned in Yellow River
The 1890s brought: kinetoscope (motion picture) camera, radio; U.S. population 63.0 million
1890 — Dedication of The Gospel Tabernacle, Christian Publications, and Berachah Home complex at Eighth Avenue and W 44th Street in NYC; C&MA begins ministry in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria; Eighth Avenue Mission opened by May Agnew; Stephen Merritt feeds 2,000 homeless people daily 1890-91 — First black C&MA missionaries, James A. Trice and Robert Page, begin work 1891 — C&MA begins ministry in Japan; First edition of Hymns of the Christian Life published 1893 — C&MA begins ministry in India 1895 — C&MA begins ministry in Venezuela 1897 — The two societies merge to become The Christian and Missionary Alliance; A.B. Simpson becomes first president; C&MA begins ministry in Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador; Missionary Training Institute nd Berachah Home move to Nyack, New York< 1890 — The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) founded by Fredrik Franson 1893 — “Hephzibah House” founded by Virginia DePeyster Field in NYC 1895 — Africa Inland Mission (AIM) founded by C&MA missionary Peter Cameron Scott 1899 — Gideons International organized by three businessmen in Janesville, Wisconsin 1892 — Ellis Island opens in New York to receive immigrants 1897 — Sir Ronald Ross discovers cause of malaria, brings decline in fatalities in Africa 1898 — U.S. blockades Cuba after battleship Maine sinks; U.S. declares war on Spain
The 1900s brought: 9 million U.S. immigrants, teddy bears, ice cream cones; U.S. population 76.2 million; World population 1.6 billion
1900 — China’s Boxer Rebellion, 19 Swedish C&MA missionaries and 13 children massacred; C&MA begins ministry in Puerto Rico 1901 — Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) founded by Rowland S. Bingham, MTI alumnus 1902 — Simpson edits religious monthly, Living Truths; C&MA begins ministry in Philippines 1906 — Wilson Academy founded by Henry Wilson, famous alumni Charles and John D. MacArthur; Lovejoy Bible Training School for African-Americans founded in Mill Spring, North Carolina 1907 — Toccoa Falls Bible Institute (Toccoa Falls College) founded by Dr. and Mrs. R.A. Forrest 1900 — NYC World Missionary Conference, 200,000 attendees 1904 — Welsh Revival, ministry of Evan Roberts, 100,000 converts in six months 1906 — Azusa Street meetings in Los Angeles, California, led by William Seymour, launches Pentecostal movement 1908 — Billy Sunday begins citywide campaigns, 1 million converts by 1930 1903 — First successful airplane flight by the Wright brothers in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina 1906 — Earthquake and subsequent fire in San Francisco destroy most of the city 1908 — Henry Ford introduces the Model T car, priced at $850 1909 — Admiral Robert E. Peary claims to be the first to reach the North Pole
The 1910s brought: Boy/Girl Scouts, Panama Canal, sinking of Titanic, Prohibition; U.S. population 92.3 million
1911 — C&MA begins ministry in Vietnam, Robert A. Jaffray leads initiative 1916 — St. Paul Bible Institute (Crown College) founded by J.D. Williams 1919 — A.B. Simpson suffers a stroke and dies; Paul Rader becomes second president of the C&MA; C&MA begins ministry in Guinea 1910 — Edinburgh World Missions Conference begins 20th century ecumenical movement; Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denominations established 1917 — Interdenominational Foreign Missions Association (IFMA) founded 1911 — South Pole first reached by Roald Amundsen 1914 — World War I begins after assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife 1917 — U.S. enters World War I; Charlie Chaplin becomes first actor to sign a $1 million contract 1918 — World War I ends after Germany surrenders; Influenza outbreak kills 20 million worldwide
The 1920s brought: British-mandated Palestine, Babe Ruth, TV, Reader’s Digest; U.S. population 108 million
1921 — Simpson Bible Institute (Simpson College) founded by W.W. Newberry 1923 — Pittsburgh Bible Training School for African-Americans founded by E.M. Burgess; C&MA begins ministry in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Colombia and Mali 1924 — Margaret Henry Simpson dies at 82; Frederic H. Senft becomes third president of the C&MA, dies during first year in office 1925 — C&MA begins ministry in Peru; Harry M. Shuman becomes fourth president of the C&MA 1926 — Cleveland Coloured Gospel Quintet entertains C&MA audiences in U.S. and Canada 1929 — C&MA begins ministry in Indonesia, Laos and Thailand 1921 — International Missionary Council formed to maintain cooperation among missions 1922 — Pandita Ramabai, founder of Mukti Mission in India, dies; C&MA becomes legal trustee of mission 1925 — Scopes Monkey Trial: John T. Scopes convicted of teaching evolution in a public school 1927 — Russian communist government destroys thousands of churches and kills Christians; Anti-Christian movement in China forces 5,000 Protestant missionaries to leave 1920 — 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote 1926 — Congress establishes the Army Air Corp (Air Force) 1927 — Charles Lindbergh flies Spirit of St. Louis nonstop from New York to Paris in 33 hours 1929 — U.S. Stock Market crashes on “Black Tuesday;” the Great Depression begins
The 1930s brought: Prohibition ends, Empire State Building, Social Security; U.S. population 123.2 million
1930 — C&MA begins ministry in Côte d’Ivoire 1931 — First major international Protestant radio station, HCJB “Voice of the Andies,” founded by Reuben Larson (C&MA) and Clarence Jones 1933 — Missionary Training Institute (Nyack College) celebrates its 50th anniversary; Great Depression forces the Board of Managers to slash missionary allowances by one-third; C&MA begins ministry in Gabon 1935 — President Shuman says Depression years most trying in history of Alliance; C&MA giving increases 11.15 percent over previous year, highest since 1931 1936 — Hymns of the Christian Life, 5th edition “blue hymnal” published 1933 — Navigators discipleship program started by Dawson Trotman 1934 — Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. founded by William Townsend Cameron 1937 — Child Evangelism Fellowship, Inc. organized by Jesse Overholtzer 1939 — Back to the Bible International founded by Theodore Epp; Old Fashioned Gospel Hour with Charles Fuller reaches 10 million listeners every Sunday 1933 — President Roosevelt’s New Deal puts millions of Americans back to work 1935 — Nuremberg Laws strip German Jews of citizenship 1938 — Orson Welle’s radio drama War of the Worlds causes scare; Atomic fission of uranium discovered 1939 — Germany invades Poland; The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind in movie theaters
The 1940s brought: Israel statehood, NATO, Jackie Robinson, Ghandi’s assassination; U.S. population 132.2 million
1941 — Canadian Bible Institute founded 1942 — China, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam closed to missions work; 35 C&MA men, 42 women, and 44 children placed in internment camps; missionary Ethel Bell and her two children survive 20 days in a raft on the Atlantic Ocean after their ship is torpedoed 1944 — C&MA missionary effort holds steady during war years; of 476 missionaries, 252 remain overseas 1945 — Robert A. Jaffray dies in Japanese internment camp in Indonesia 1946 — General Council reports ten missionaries and one child died in captivity during World War II 1948 — C&MA exceeds goal of 1,000 U.S. organized branches, membership surpasses 50,000 mark 1949 — C&MA missionaries forced to leave China as communism takes over; A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God achieves wide recognition, in 1950 he become editor of The Alliance Weekly 1941 — InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA organized 1944 — National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) & Evangelical Foreign Missions Association (EFMA) founded; National Religious Broadcasters and World Relief Corp. established 1945 — Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is executed at Buchenwald; Youth for Christ International founded; Mission Aviation Fellowship organized by three former World War II pilots 1947 — English healing evangelist Smith Wigglesworth dies at 88 1941 — U.S. enters World War II after Japan’s surprise attack on pearl Harbor 1941-45 — Holocaust: 6 million Jews annihilated (3 million killed in German concentration camps) 1944 — D-Day: U.S. and Allied forces invade Normandy, France, in largest amphibious assault in history 1945 — U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japanese surrender, ending World War II
The 1950s brought: NASA, polio vaccine, Mr. Potato Head, UNIVAC computer; U.S. population 151.2 million; World population 2.6
1950 — First C&MA missionary doctor, Dean F. Kroh, sent to Democratic Republic of the Congo 1954 — Numerous C&MA churches in Vietnam are destroyed, Christians executed; C&MA begins ministry in Mexico; C&MA’s Sealand plane, Gospel Messenger, arrives in Papua, Indonesia; Harry M. Shuman retires after serving 28 years as C&MA president; Harry L. Turner becomes fifth president of the C&MA 1955 — General Council affirms principles of self-support, self-government, and self-propagation for indigenous national churches; First Asia Conference convenes in Thailand 1958 — The Alliance Weekly renamed The Alliance Witness 1959 — Church Extension Loan Fund established to provide loans to Alliance churches 1950 — World Vision founded by Bob Pierce; Billy Graham Evangelistic Association established 1951 — Campus Crusade for Christ International organized by Bill Bright 1952 — President Harry Truman signs National Day of Prayer resolution 1956 — Five missionaries killed by Huaorani (Auca) Indians in Ecuador 1957 — Two million attend Billy Graham NYC crusade, 55,000 decisions reported 1950 — North Korea invades South Korea 1955 — Rosa Parks refuses to give up bus seat to white man in Montgomery, Alabama 1957 — Space Age begins; Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, world’s first artificial satellite 1959 — Alaska and Hawaii are admitted as the 49th and 50th states
The 1960s brought: Berlin Wall, Civil Rights Act, Beatles, heart transplants; U.S. population 179.3 million
1960 — C&MA begins ministry in Paraguay and Uruguay; Jaffray School of Missions (Alliance Theological Seminary) opens in Nyack, New York; Nathan Bailey becomes sixth president of the C&MA 1962 — Mennonite missionary Dan Gerber and C&MA missionaries Archie Mitchell and Ardel Vietti captured by Vietcong, their fate remains unknown; Missionary Mabel Francis receives Japan’s highest civilian award; C&MA begins ministry in Brazil; First LIFE Youth Conference in Chicago, Illinois 1963 — C&MA begins ministry in Taiwan, ROC 1967 — Alliance Youth Corps established 1968 — Vietnam Tet Offensive: six C&MA missionaries killed, Betty Olsen dies later in captivity; Shell Point Village Retirement Community established in Fort Myers, Florida 1969 — C&MA begins ministry in Dominican Republic and Guatemala 1960 — Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) begun by Pat Robertson; Youth With A Mission (YWAM) founded by Loren Cunningham 1962 — Evangelism Explosion International organized by D. James Kennedy 1963 — Theological Education Extension (TEE) begins in Guatemala; author C.S. Lewis dies at 64; wrote Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia 1966 — “Wheaton Declaration” Congress on Worldwide Missions, attended by 1,000 delegates 1967 — Catholic Charismatic Movement born when Duquesne University students speak in tongues; Guinea: all missionaries, except 26 C&MA workers, expelled 1963 — March on Washington by civil rights supporters; Martin Luther King Jr. delivers “I have a dream” speech; President John F. Kennedy assassinated; prayer in public schools outlawed by U.S. Supreme Court 1965 — U.S. combat troops land at China Beach, Vietnam, to defend air base in Da Nang 1968 — Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated 1969 — Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to step on the moon
The 1970s brought: Hank Aaron HR record, Iran hostage crisis, oil embargo; U.S. population 203.3 million
1970 — C&MA begins ministry in Great Britain; Canadian Theological College established 1971 — C&MA begins ministry in New Zealand 1972 — Missionary Training Institute becomes Nyack College 1974 — CAMA Services, relief and development ministry, established; National Office moves from New York City to Nyack, New York; C&MA officially declared a denomination 1975 — C&MA begin ministry in Costa Rica and Germany; missionaries leave Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam when communists take over government; the Alliance World Fellowship (AWF) established 1977 — Thirty-nine (majority students and faculty) die in flood at Toccoa Falls College 1978 — Louis L. King becomes seventh president of the C&MA; C&MA begins ministry in Spain 1979 — C&MA begins ministry in Suriname; former C&MA President Nathan Bailey dies in auto accident 1971 — Greenlake Conference on church/mission relations, 250 mission executives attend; Food for the Hungry founded by Larry Ward 1973 — Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA) founded by Ron Sider; Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) founded; Lausanne I International Congress on World Evangelism in Switzerland 1976 —International Prison Fellowship founded by Chuck Colson 1977 — Focus on the Family founded by Dr. James Dobson 1978 — International Bible Society evolves from New York Bible Society (1809); JESUS film produced by Campus Crusade for Christ 1970 — Four students killed at Kent State during Vietnam War protest; first Earth Day celebrated 1973 — Vietnam Peace pacts signed, ending war; abortion legalized in U.S. after Roe v. Wade decision 1974 — Watergate scandal; President Richard Nixon resigns 1976 — President Jimmy Carter popularizes term “born again;” U.S. celebrates its bicentennial
The 1980s brought: AIDS epidemic, Madonna, Rubik’s Cube, MTV; U.S. population 226.5 million
1980 — International Fellowship of Alliance Professionals (IFAP) established; C&MA begins ministry in South Korea 1981 — Canada becomes autonomous from U.S. C&MA, Melvin P. Sylvester becomes first president 1986 — All for Jesus, centennial history of C&MA published 1987 — “Easter 100” goal reached, 101 churches started; first edition of Alliance Video Magazine produced; Centennial Celebration of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in St. Paul, Minnesota; David L. Rambo becomes eighth president of the C&MA; The Alliance Witness renamed Alliance Life 1989 — C&MA National Office moves to Colorado Springs, Colorado 1980 — World Consultation on Frontier Missions in Edinburgh, Scotland 1983 — Amsterdam ’83 International Conference, 3,800 from 133 nations attend 1984 — Author and theologian Francis Schaeffer dies at 72, founded L’Abri Fellowship international in 1955 1986 — Amsterdam ’86 International Conference, 8,000 from 173 countries attend 1989 — Lausanne II International Congress on World Evangelism in Manila; Christian Coalition of America founded by Pat Robertson 1980 — U.S. boycott of Moscow Olympics; John Lennon murdered; Mount St. Helens erupts 1981 — President Ronald Reagan survives assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. 1986 — Space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing all seven crew members 1989 — Fall of Berlin Wall; Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska; Tiananmen Square massacre in China
The 1990s brought: Seinfeld, World Wide Web, cloned sheep “Dolly,” L.A. riots; U.S. population 248.7 million
1992 — C&MA begins ministry in Republic of the Congo 1993 — C&MA begins ministry in Hungary, Poland and Russia; Lampados Bible College (Kuban Evangelical Christian University) founded in Krasnador, Russia 1994 — India closed to missionaries, C&MA missionaries officially leave 1995 — 7,400 youth attend LIFE ’95 in Orlando, Florida 1996 — Paul F. Bubna becomes ninth president of the C&MA; C&MA begins ministry in Cuba 1997 — C&MA begins ministry in Bolivia; Nyack College Manhattan Center opens 1998 — C&MA Web site launched; President Paul Bubna dies of a heart attack; C&MA begins ministry in Balkans, Mongolia and Panama; Peter N. Nanfelt becomes tenth president of the C&MA 1999 — The Orchard Foundation established 1990 — Texas high school students start See You at the Pole prayer rally 1991 — Promise Keepers first conference draws 4,200 men to University of Colorado in Boulder 1993 — Samaritan’s Purse launches Operation Christmas Child 1997 — Mother Teresa dies at 87 1991 — Persian Gulf War: Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm 1995 — Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 people 1997 — Diana, Princess of Wales, dies at 36 in Paris auto accident 1998 — President Bill Clinton impeached after Monica Lewinsky and Whitewater scandals 1999 — Fifteen dead after Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado
The 2000s brought: Department of Homeland Security, map of the human genome; U.S. population 281.4 million, World population 6.1
2000 — Alliance Life published in Spanish for the first time: Vida Alliancista; thousands make decisions for Christ in Vietnam, estimated number of believers more than 700,000 2002 — Staff and students at International Christian Academy in Côte d’Ivoire evacuated due to rebel fighting; C&MA begins ministry in Turkey; C&MA national church in Philippines celebrates centennial 2003 — General Council ratifies transition to a biennial event; C&MA church opens in war-torn Baghdad, Iraq 2004 — C&MA begins ministry in Central Asia; new C&MA Web site design, 135,000 users monthly, Tozer devotionals lead in popularity; C&MA begins ministry in Central Asia; missionary resources redeployed from Alliance Academy, Ecuador, Gabon, Peru, and Philippines to allow transfer of work to respective national churches; C&MA leaders visit President Thanh of Vietnam’s Tin Lanh Church; Celebrate 2004 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Alliance Women celebrate 75 years of ministry 2005 — Gary Benedict becomes eleventh president of U.S. C&MA; IFAP personnel surpass 100 for the first time in C&MA history; transition of missionaries from Peru; Alliance Academy in Ecuador becomes an independent, international school 2006 — Grand opening of the Women and Children’s Hospital in Koutiala, Mali; entry of C&MA church-planting team into Senegal 2000 — Amsterdam 2000 International Conference, 10,000 from 209 countries attend 2002 — Campus Crusade for Christ sponsors moving King’s College to NYC’s Empire State Building, 15th floor; missionary Bonnie Witherall shot and killed in Sidon, Lebanon while working at C&MA prenatal clinic 2004 — Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ soars to success amid controversy 2000 — Y2K millennium computer “bug” disaster averted 2001 — Terrorists hijack planes and destroy World Trade Center, damage Pentagon and crash in rural Pennsylvania, more than 2,800 die 2002 — Coalition forces put down Taliban regime in Afghanistan 2003 — War with Iraq drives out Saddam Hussein and his regime 2004 — 9.5 earthquake and subsequent tsunami decimate countries bordering Indian Ocean, 250,000 killed 2005 — Hurricane Katrina hits U.S. Gulf Coast, nearly 1 million lose homes |
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