Within a few months of his arrival in Ireland, Irvine was already disillusioned with the Faith Mission. There was friction over its Holiness teachings, and Irvine saw its organization as a violation of his concept of a faith-based ministry. Above all, Irvine was increasingly intolerant of the Faith Mission's cooperation with the other churches and clergy in the various communities of southern Ireland, regarding converts who joined churches as "lost among the clergy". In 1897, he began preaching independently, proclaiming that true ministers must have no home and take no salary. He became convinced that he had received this as a special revelation he referred to as his "Alpha message". Opposed to all other established churches, he held that the manner in which the disciples had been sent out in chapter 10 of the "Gospel of Matthew" was a permanent commandment which must still be observed. The passage reads in part: