Alliance family, as you’ll remember, last year at Council 2023, we announced five goals for The Alliance. As God allows, one year from right now, I’ll be recording my final message to the Alliance family as president. Join me as we bring these two points on the calendar together now.

One year from right now, Lord willing, we’ll have a president elect as The Christian and Missionary Alliance, and I’ll be in my final month. A month, which will include LIFE 2025—Indianapolis, Indiana. Scott Wakeley and his team are doing a great job preparing for this. There’s leader material online available for you, and registration opens in just six weeks. I love the variety of the role that I’ve had. I’ll miss that greatly. Right now, that includes the relocation of the Simpsons’ grave site. You know that with the loss of the Nyack campus, we need to move that grave site to a public place. But it’s been complex—needing to contact every living relative, needing to get court approval. And now, thanks to the Chinese Church Association, we have a lovely plot in the Nyack public cemetery, where we, as the Alliance family, will be able to properly honor the Simpsons. We hope that there will be an actual public event next spring or summer in honor of their lives and in dedication of this memorial.

Later this fall, I look forward to getting to participate in the 50th anniversary of CAMA, our relief and development ministry. What a significant impact they have had globally, and we’re properly honoring them at this time including, if you’ve not yet seen it, a great 20-minute documentary on the 50 years of CAMA’s ministry. It is available to you, and it’s a must-see for the Alliance family.

At this one-year point, it feels timely for me to give an update on the five goals that we announced at Council 2023. The first was that the Lord would allow us to send out one new international worker a week for the next two years. Well, I’m delighted to announce that for year one, the Lord allowed us to surpass that goal, and we, as supportive directors, have now appointed 54 international workers to go out, just since last Council. Right now, they’re in preparation to be launched, and praise God for allowing us to do this. There’s 18 countries that are going to receive the blessing of the sending of the Alliance family. Atlanta—Envision site, Cambodia, France, Germany, Guinea, Indonesia, Papua, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Mexico, Paraguay, Senegal, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and some closed-access countries.

Our second goal is one new open door each year for the next two years of Alliance missional advance. More than a couple doors are opening. This is an exciting moment of time, of opportunity, for us, and we are careful and prayerful about which doors we walk through.

Let me share with you the words of Tim Crouch, our vice president for Alliance Missions: “Pray with us as we’re taking steps to increase focus among the arising generations in a new location in Japan, entering the territory of a new capital city in the Pacific Islands ahead of the national government, exploring a key opportunity among Hindu people, and gearing up for the people of God, rebuilding communities after the war in Ukraine. Additionally, pray with us about our widening opportunities among Fulani people in West Africa and for the raising up of a new Envision site in Manchester, UK—a most diverse and recent destination for immigrants. We’re expectant that several of these will be moving forward with new international workers on the ground by Council 2025.”

Our third goal is one new church plant in the United States of America each week for the next two years. Some of my favorite ministry experiences and fondest memories have been when I’ve had the privilege of being in some church-planting effort. Seeing a new expression of the church arise, especially at a moment in time in American history where there’s such a movement of population and a marginalization of the church, this is essential that we be strategic, prayerful, and full of initiation for church planting. I’m delighted to report that after one year of this goal, we have 49 new expressions of the church in the United States. Didn’t quite hit our 52 goal, but praise God. Rejoice with me that The Alliance is advancing in the United States. And there are, I am told, 75 more projects in some form of development for church-planting efforts within the U.S. Alliance family.

Our fourth goal is One Alliance Place. We would really like to complete this relocation project. The move to Columbus has been evidenced by God’s kindness. We are very grateful for the benefits that have come from this move—greater engagement with the Alliance family, better usage of Great Commission Fund dollars, a more diverse staff at our National Office, better engagement with the local community. We are grateful to God for the kindnesses that He has shown to us in this relocation; yet, we’re not complete yet—we’re not in our new building. This is a conversation that requires enough information that I’m setting aside an entire video blog sometime later this fall to give the full story, but right now, continue to pray with us as we are still in forward progress for this very significant repositioning of not only the Alliance office, but of the church in America.

Our fifth goal is one mission fully funded so that we would have the financial resources to complete the vision that we believe God has given us. Now, if you remember from Council 2023, we first stated that goal in financial terms—$100 million a year for the next two years. That would’ve been a 40 percent increase of Alliance giving, which is a pretty big swing for any organization to take. And frankly, I’m glad we took the swing. We tested some of our capacity, and I truly believe that we are a $100 million dollar mission organization in time, but for this moment, we are grateful to celebrate the fact that we ended the year once again in the black. Thanks for the faithfulness of God’s people and the good stewardship of the staff. For three consecutive years, we have had record giving in The Christian and Missionary Alliance, and for that, we express our gratitude to God and our appreciation to you, the Alliance family.

I opened by saying that I enjoy the variety of what I get to do in this role as president. One expression of that is the many times that I get to be with churches, colleges, conferences, events. It’s a beautiful thing to be with the Alliance family and to engage with you. I have the privilege of preaching 150 times a year or so, and I’m seeing, in these days especially, a fresh wind of the Spirit blowing among us. There’s some beautiful things happening within our churches and a real leaning in of engagement. One evidence of that is the statistics that we’ve received from your Annual Reports, where each year for the last two years, both in conversions and baptisms, there’s been a 2,000-person growth per category. This is a cause for rejoicing, and I believe that 2024 will be another very strong year as well. So, I’m rejoicing on what I get to see.

I’m grateful for the Alliance family, and as I am with you, I am finding some interesting moments, such as when the aging brother said to me that he had a very unique hymnal that he wanted to send to me in the mail. It arrived just not too many days ago, and it is unique indeed. It is the first edition of “The Hymns of the Christian Life,” 1891. And interestingly enough, it is a very specific copy. It was owned by Mrs. A. B. Simpson, New York, New York. “If lost, please return to the rightful owner.” Well, sorry Margaret, I’m not getting this back to you right now, but this is a true gift to us, and it will go into our archives. I was intrigued as I read the foreword, which says that, you know, new music will always be produced. We have a need to create the new, but at the same time, we must not abandon the old. And so, this hymnal becomes an effort to incorporate fresh music of the time with that which had been well-established through the centuries. So, one of the old established songs is “Rock of Ages,” and one of the brand new songs is “Trust and Obey.” And there’s a few songs that never really made it such as “The Seven Overcomeths” and “I Will Sprinkle.” Those really didn’t make it through the years evidently, but I’m grateful for this collection.

It had powerful impact in the country of Korea. In our recent relaunch of ministry in Korea through our Korean graduates from Alliance Theological Seminary that started with five churches that now has exploded to over 70 churches in less than a decade, one of the reasons—they still sing some of Dr. Simpson’s songs throughout the country of Korea that were first produced in this “Hymns of the Christian Life” hymnal. So, the ramifications of what Simpson did in these early days and the ongoing impact is a beautiful thing.

What intrigued me most about this hymnal though were the categories of hymns. They acknowledged that they were one of the only hymnals to ever put hymns into categories for the help of the user. And we wouldn’t be surprised to find out that there’s a category on salvation, sanctification, healing, and the return of our Christ, and service. But before they go to any of those subjects, I was fascinated to find that there are 40 hymns that open this hymnal on the Holy Spirit. The first 40 songs are Holy Spirit songs. Before we go to service, before we go to healing, before we bring Christ back, they went first and foremost to their dependence upon, their longing for, the work of the Holy Spirit.

So, Alliance family, as we’re in this transitional season where we’re beginning to think about the next president who will serve and where I have a 23-item punch list that I’ve given to the Board of Directors for what I want to accomplish in the last year of service that I have, and as we rejoice in the five goals and the progress that is being made, and as you carry out your work in your local setting, let’s keep coming back to where our first hymnal started—our need for and dependence upon the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I’ve said it often and I’ll say it again that my leadership is no better than my moment-by-moment obedience to and dependence upon the Holy Spirit’s work in my life. And so is it for you, Alliance leader. Our ministry is no better than our moment-by-moment obedience to and dependence upon the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. May it be so.