Contact: Mark Failing, Assistant to the President, The Christian and Missionary Alliance, 719-660-2876, failingm@cmalliance.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., June 18, 2013 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Board of Directors for The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in the United States announced Thursday that Dr. John P. Stumbo has been elected as president of the denomination.

Dr. Stumbo, who received his doctor of ministry from George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon, will serve as the twelfth president of the U.S. C&MA. "My lifetime of ministry could be summarized by a simple statement: loving Jesus by loving His church," says Stumbo. "I would see the presidency as a continuation and expansion of this calling."

Stumbo has served in a variety of roles in The Alliance. In addition to many years of pastoral ministry, he was vice president for Advancement at the C&MA National Office, corporate vice president of the U.S. C&MA, and acting superintendent of the Alliance Northwest District. He has been a frequent contributor to Alliance Life magazine and also has written two books, including An Honest Look at a Mysterious Journey, which chronicles a serious illness that left him bedridden for 77 days and unable to swallow for more than a year.

"I am grateful for God's touch on my life," Stumbo says. "A 'reshaping' work has begun in the aftermath of my health crisis. My growing desire is to be a man that walks in the Spirit every day, all day."

Stumbo believes that the vision of The Alliance "is not something to be created. It is to be received. . . . My prayer [is that] God would help me . . . to hear His heart for the future of our movement.

"I've observed the tendency of an organization to consume all its resources to sustain its own survival," Stumbo adds. "The corporate draw is ever inward. Meanwhile, the compulsion of the Spirit is to . . . free us to love and serve others. We do not and must not exist for ourselves."

The Alliance is a fellowship of nearly 6 million evangelical believers worldwide, with more than 2,000 U.S. churches, dedicated to fulfilling Christ's command to make disciples of all nations. The Alliance has a thoroughly evangelical doctrinal statement and encourages believers from diverse backgrounds and theological traditions to unite to complete Christ's Great Commission.