More Testimonies About Alpha

The Alpha course is praised worldwide by guests, leaders, the church, and even the press. Click on the links below to see what people are saying about the Alpha Course.

What Alpha course leaders say...

What Alpha guests say...

"Over the years, church became more of a social club… I’m still figuring it out. I was nervous the first week but was placed at a table with other young people, many of whom were going through the same stuff I was. But now God is a daily part of my life. The friends from Alpha have become some of the closest friends I’ve ever had." - John, Alpha guest

“Before I had always thought you had to do good to be a Christian, and I knew I was not good enough…But the people in Alpha…helped smash that idea…no one is better than the next.” - Maria

“9/11 hit and my life changed. While I was fortunate not to lose anyone I loved, my company went out of business, and my fiancé and I broke off our engagement as a result of the tension…I had "issues" with organized religion. Christianity is not the religion I grew up in, and I had hostility to religion to begin with, so I had a lot of questions, but I learned a lot.” - Marta

"I didn’t expect the warm welcome I received, the interesting discussions or the lack of pressure to speak in the small groups that followed. I found that I could express any doubts about Christianity, and that my opinions would be respected. If I had an issue with something, I had a forum to voice it with no need to apologize." - Anthony

What Alpha course leaders say...

"It's as though suddenly everyone has started pulling on the oars at the same time and in the same direction. It has given us a common purpose and momentum to our ministry." - Anonymous, Alpha course leader

"A lot of people live their lives without anybody listening to them very much. But when they come to the Alpha course suddenly they discover that people are interested in what they've got to say. Alpha just by its structure, empowers people who often have very little power or freedom in their lives"

"An Alpha course, in my view, is an excellent form of teaching for those with doubts or uncertainties, and a marvellous way of bridging the gap between the very dull type of Christianity that use to be ladled out at most public schools... and worship that is available for practicing Christians today"

"People are struggling with effective evangelism. We don't have to prove Alpha works -It just does!"

"It's as though suddenly everyone has started pulling on the oars at the same time and in the same direction. It has given us a common purpose and momentum to our ministry."

"We have been greatly blessed by Alpha - it has united our leadership, brought the unchurched into a relationship with Christ and it is the most useful marriage and baptismal guidance programme we have ever used."

"I got up to the pulpit and I looked at my congregation and a third of the people were Alpha graduates."

"It is wonderful to learn that Christianity is not about rules but relationships, not a philosophy but a fantastic person and that it does relate to a modern lifestyle in the 2Oth century."

"The Alpha course has drawn us together, given us a greater passion for evangelism and most importantly drawn us closer to Jesus."

"Folk don't know what has hit the place. They ask, 'What has happened to the minister?' 'What has happened to x, y, z?' The impact is there to be seen."

What church leaders say...

Rick Warren, Author of The Purpose Driven Life
"If you have never heard of Alpha I want to challenge you to check it out. It is one of the most effective evangelism tools for the 21st century. Alpha has my 100% endorsement and I would encourage you to use it in small groups in your Church and everywhere that you can."

Ian Campbell, Senior Pastor, Bramalea Baptist Church (Brampton, Ontario)
"Alpha has become that familiar and trusted program that the church needs as a safe entry point. In many ways, Alpha has become the Billy Graham of this generation of evangelism."

Leighton Ford, Leighton Ford Ministries
"God has used the Alpha Ministry in a significant way to reach the seeking pre-Christians of England. We, in an increasingly secularized North America, have much we can learn from the Alpha leaders about the principles that have enabled them to reach a biblically illiterate generation."

Roger MacPhee, St. John's Presbyterian Church (Prince Edward Island)
"Alpha has been the most effective evangelism program we've ever had. It has re-kindled the faith of a lot of the people who have been part of the church for a long time, myself included, and it has been effective in reaching the lost. And I've never seen a single program that has brought Protestant and Catholic churches together like it has here in P.E.I."

Charles W. Colson, Prison Fellowship Ministries
"I know of many people whose lives have been transformed through the Alpha course. I rejoice at how God is using it so powerfully to renew many churches both inside and outside prison walls."

Jack W. Hayford, Pastor, The Church On The Way and President, The Kings Seminary
"I see Alpha as a strategic tool, sensitively crafted to address today's secularized seekers with satisfying answers to their spiritual hunger. I recommend Alpha to all pastors wanting to equip their people for new-millennium effectiveness in evangelism."

Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church
"We stand alongside others who have a similar passion for leading people into relationships with Jesus Christ. We applaud the vision and work of Alpha to connect the unconnected to the life of the local church and to relationship with Jesus Christ."

The Late Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ
"Alpha is definitely a powerful tool for reaching the lost for Christ and helping them mature in their faith."

The Rt. Rev. Herbert Thompson, Jr., Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio
"The Alpha course is a superb vehicle for seeking and evangelizing non-Christians, the unchurched and the nominally churched. Would that every Episcopal Church had an Alpha course for we would be truly embracing the Great Commission of Jesus our Lord.”

Luis Palau, Evangelist
"Alpha seems especially blessed in that the Lord is using it to reach all sorts of people in all sorts of spiritual condition."

Jackie Pullinger-To, Director of St. Stephen's Society (Hong Kong)
"I have met many unlikely people from different backgrounds who have been profoundly changed through attending this course."

Loren Cunningham, Ywam
"Alpha is a soul winning, discipling, multiplying, spiritually dynamic ministry that has already touched the lives of thousands. I believe this vision will continue to expand and truly become an international blessing."

Fr. James Mallon, Priest
Alpha is a doorway like no other doorway for people with no connection to church."

Richard J. Foster, Author
"Alpha is one of the best ways I know to introduce your neighbours and friends to the life-giving message of Jesus for all peoples. I recommend it highly."

Joel Edwards, General Director, Evangelical Alliance
"The great Command to make disciples of all people is still relevant today. Alpha provides us with a contemporary response to cringe free evangelism which deserves the increasing profile it is currently receiving."

Steve Chalke, The Oasis Trust
"Alpha is the most effective and transferable introductory course to the Christian faith that I know."

J. John, Evangelist
"Alpha - not just the first letter of the Greek alphabet, but first choice for an illuminating perspective on Christianity. An ideal follow up course for missions."

Rev'd Dr. Ken Wilson, President of the Methodist Church of Ireland
"Alpha is a God-inspired means of telling others of the love of Jesus. I have used it both in large and small groups, and can wholeheartedly commend it to all who wish to make contact with our modern secular society."

Justyn Rees, Northview Community Church (British Columbia)
"Alpha is relationship with wonderful content, and what Nicky Gumbel lays out there is not a superficial expression of the Gospel. It is the Gospel, beautifully argued and presented and compellingly put across. There are lots of people coming here now who found Jesus through the Alpha Course."

Rev. J.I. Packer, Regent College (Vancouver)
"The Alpha Course is a most engaging way of passing on the basics of Christianity. It is a tool for evangelism and nurture that I highly recommend."

Most Revd. Adam Exner, Former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver
"I sincerely believe that the Alpha approach to evangelizing can and will enhance our evangelizing effort. It is a tried, proven and effective method of reaching out to the fallen away and to those who do not yet believe."

Gene Tempelmeyer, Spring Garden Baptist Church (Toronto, Ontario)
Speaking of his former pastorate at First Baptist Church, Tilsonburg, Ontario:
"Through the years about 1,000 people went through our Alpha Course, in a town of 12,000. I estimate that about 300 came to faith in Christ. I baptized nearly 100 of those. The church grew. Before Alpha the church had a traditional service at 11 and a small contemporary service of 40-50 people at 8:30. After we'd run Alpha for a few years that contemporary service was so full that we had to go to three services on Sunday morning. Part of it was that there became a buzz that this is a church where things are happening."

The Most Revd. and Rt. Hon. Dr. George L Carey, 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury
"I think it's superb. I commend it wholeheartedly."

The Most Revd. B.J. Hicke, Catholic Archbishop of Perth (Western Australia)
"Reports I hear about Catholic Alpha are always enthusiastically positive. Catholics find that their faith really comes alive and that they want to share it with others, especially with those who have drifted away from the faith. I am happy to encourage Catholic Alpha as a modern and effective form of evangelization."

Paul Mercy, Assistant General Superintendant, Assemblies Of God
"Alpha is easily the best Christian foundation course I know of. We have found it exciting, easy to grasp and practical - excellent! I heartily endorse it."

Jamey McDonald, Executive Director, Baptist General Conference
“I have been a strong advocate of Alpha for our churches. I don’t know of a better kingdom centred, gospel rich, culturally appropriate effort to introduce new folk to the good news of Christ.”

John Kaiser, President, Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada
“I have seen the Alpha Course used effectively to help people come to Christ in Baptist churches all over the world. It is a tool that every congregation would do well to consider.”

What the press says...

Christianity Today
"Alpha, in the hands of skilled church leaders, has succeeded in many cases in turning faithful churchgoers from an inward focus on church work to an outward focus on evangelistic outreach…"

The Express (London)
"Alpha makes Christianity relevant to modern life."

The Guardian (London)
"What Alpha offers, and what is attracting thousands of people, is permission, rare in secular culture, to discuss the big questions - life and death and their meaning."

The Times (London)
"What distinguishes Alpha from other initiatives is the easy-going, relaxed feel of the proceedings - that, and its astonishing success."

Time Magazine
"The miracle formula church leaders are hoping will reverse this religious decline...many claim Alpha has changed their lives and appear genuinely happier for the experience."

The Daily Telegraph (London)
"Alpha is an unqualified triumph."

The New York Times
"A novel approach to Christian education that has been catching on nationwide."

Times-News (North Carolina)
"Alpha, one of the world's fastest growing methods of evangelism."

The Independent on Sunday (London)
"The world's most popular course in Christianity."

Newsweek
"Alpha…uses modern marketing methods to promote and explain Christian teachings around the world."

Evening Standard (London)
"…The only unqualified success there has been in recent years to arrest the seemingly inexorable decline in attendances - the Alpha course."

The Economist
"Alpha is certainly a powerful medicine for a sickly old church."

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