ALPHA COURSE DESCRIPTION

We live in a time when purpose and meaning in life are serious questions. We also know from church attendance, that institutional religious groups are often not where people turn to find answers.

The day before I penned this Newsletter article, a woman sat in the church telling me that she doubted that her priest had enough exposure to life to provide any real guidance. Her answer is symptomatic of our culture. The Church is viewed as disconnected to real life, is viewed with suspicion, is often considered irrelevant.

Alpha Courses were developed over 20 years ago in an Anglican Church in Brompton, England. Like many state churches of Europe, this was another grand, but empty building. Leaders sought a way to bridge the gap between spiritual hunger - obvious from the high rates of addictions, suicides, people in analysis or therapy, all sorts of alternative or "New Age" approaches to spiritual matters - and The Church.

Alpha Courses set as their primary aim: To help bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Even the name "Alpha" implies a beginning or entry into conversations about matters of faith. It is designed to reach non-Christians or non-church-going people who are searching for some answers to life's difficult questions. It does so in a non-threatening atmosphere, where questions are encouraged. It is understood that while people may be new to Christianity, they are not new to life. People are treated with respect, and "easy answers" are avoided, while faith through Jesus Christ, the power of Bible study and prayer, and the importance of mutual ministry are treated as essential.

A typical evening at an Alpha Course will involve leaders coming together beforehand for a time of prayer, greeting arriving participants, a light meal together, worship time and a talk (we will use video tapes for this) then small group discussions, Bible study, and prayer. The program runs for 10 weeks and includes a "retreat" which is usually a Friday evening and Saturday event.

While this program will aim to reach new people for Christ, I encourage as many of our members to come as possible. We want our members to understand first-hand what we are trying to do, and to learn how to be leaders in discipleship. Alpha training materials put it this way: We do not want to produce compliant, passive converts. We want to ignite and nurture active disciples, who will then go out and reach other people on their own accord.

Further information about Alpha can be found at: www.alphausa.org.

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