A Vine Over the Wall

The Alliance has never been a separatist group. Born as a para-church organization that became adenomination, it seemed to touch every segment of the evangelical church in America.

This aspect of the Alliance history can best be illustrated in the person of Paul Rader, the second president of the movement. At the death of A. B. Simpson in 1919, Paul Rader was elected president. He was at the time pastor of the famous Moody Memorial Church in Chicago.

Rader filled the Moody pulpit for six years preaching to crowds in excess of five thousand people.
Shortly after becoming president of the Alliance, Rader felt compelled to make a trip around the world to visit Alliance mission fields. He thought it unfair to Moody Church for him to continue as their pastor and at the same time serve as president of the Alliance. The board at Moody Church rejected his resignation and raised the money for Rader’s world tour. The Wonderful Word magazine edited by Leon tucker carried the full story of the moving sendoff service for the new president of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. Moody Church was filled and many people turned away. the famous Christian layman, John Wannamaker of Philadelphia, contributed heavily to the expense of the trip and sent Rader off with a letter of introduction to Lloyd George, the prime minister of Great Britain.

”The early leaders, missionaries and pastors of The Christian and Missionary Alliance were so full of the message of Christ’s fullness, they ran like a ”vine over the wall“ to bring refreshing in the whole Evangelical church in America.“
–Dr. Keith Bailey

The early leaders, missionaries and pastors of The Christian and Missionary Alliance were so full of the message of Christ’s fullness, they ran like a ”vine over the wall“ to bring refreshing in the whole Evangelical church in America. The spirit of interaction with the whole church continues after a century to be distinctive of The Christian and Missionary Alliance.

Source of Information: A Vine Over the Wall