A B Simpson died on this day 88 years ago. Simpson was a Canadian Presbyterian preacher and author, and he ended up as the accidental founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination (which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary), in much the same way as John Wesley ended up as the accidental founder of the Methodist denomination.
In 1873 at the age of 30, Simpson became the pastor of the largest Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky, but his real heart was for reaching “the neglected peoples of the world with the neglected resources of the church”. He moved to New York in 1880, and in 1883 he established a formal program for training ministers and missionaries in a multi-cultural context. His vision was for “a church that can be at once the mother and home of every form of help and blessing which Jesus came to give to lost and suffering men, the birthplace and the home of souls, the fountain of healing and cleansing, the sheltering home for the orphan and distressed, the school for the culture and training of God’s children, the armory where they are equipped for the battle of the Lord and the army which fights those battles in His name.”
As a result of his willingness to devote his life to serving in the name of Jesus those whom other people were neglecting, Simpson has had a significant influence on the lives of many. His Christian and Missionary Alliance organisation eventually became a thriving denomination with a strong emphasis on evangelism and church planting. Well known author and speaker Ravi Zacharias is a C&MA member.