Top 10 Questions of Veteran Courses

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1. How do we attract more seekers to our course?
2. Is it necessary to attend training more than once? Why?
3. As the Course Director (Administrator), how do I handle team conflicts?
4. How do I publicize our course?
5. How can I get our clergy more involved or committed to the course?
6. We've run Alpha for our entire church and now no one is coming. How do we get our congregation to invite people to Alpha?
7. How can I keep our leaders motivated?
8. Are there any other training resources to help small group leaders learn to really listen?
9. Our Youth Group is interested in Alpha. Is it possible to run Youth Alpha at the same time as the adult Alpha course?
10. Do we need large numbers of guests to run a course?

1. How do we attract more seekers to our course?

This is an excellent question and one that comes up most often in churches that have been running the course for a while. Here is link with a few suggestions on ways that you, your team and your church, can begin to attract more seekers: Attracting More People to your Alpha Course

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2. Is it necessary to attend training more than once? Why?

The training and support of Alpha small group Leaders is vital; poorly trained Leaders are a major cause of an unsuccessful Alpha course.

Think of the world of professional athletes. Every year they come together before their season begins for a time of training. This is not optional even though they are skilled athletes. If they need to take time to train and begin to work together as a team, we would do well to follow their example. An Alpha group is unlike any other small group. Guests will come from varied backgrounds and places in their spiritual walks. They will likely be carrying old hurts, stereotypes, fears and objections to the Christian faith. Many group Leaders who have been Christian for a while are accustomed to teaching, explaining, correcting, or advising those who have come to learn. This is not so appropriate on an Alpha course, where the teaching is done during the presentation, and the group’s purpose is to provide an avenue for people to explore and express what they think or feel about the subject matter.

We hope that all of you are familiar with the Alpha Leaders Training resources. Whether you teach this live or use the video or DVD versions, it is important that each new group of Leaders review the skills and knowledge that Alpha small group Leaders and Helpers need to bring to the table. Remember that "Small Groups" and "Pastoral Care" are presented prior to the start of the course and the third session "Praying for Others" session is presented prior to the Weekend/Day Away.

For suggestions on ways to augment training for your veteran Alpha small group Leaders or Helpers go to the Small Group Help/Training section. Many of these have been submitted by Alpha Leaders who are currently running Alpha courses. They were created to help keep their training times fresh.

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3. As the Course Director (Administrator), how do I handle team conflicts?

In ministry, struggles between team members are not uncommon. It is not that Leaders can’t get along, although that does happen occasionally, but in Alpha you are engaging in a spiritual battle. In other words, if the enemy can get you sidetracked with internal struggles, your efforts to reach out to others with God’s love are diminished.

That is why Jesus prayed in John 17 for unity for the disciples. Jesus encourages believers who are having difficulties with other believers to go to that person directly and voice their struggle. The purpose is not to blame, but to reconcile. As an Alpha Director it is necessary at times to help Leaders walk through these steps of reconciliation because Leaders often do not know how to do this.  Sometimes you need to call the parties together and mediate appropriate reconciliation and forgiveness.

For larger courses, it may be helpful to follow a model for leadership that is used at Holy Trinity Brompton. They assign a “seasoned” Alpha Leader to pastor or coach a few small group Leaders. These coaches may be Helpers in a small group, on the prayer team or serving some other role on the evening of Alpha. The idea is that each Leader feels supported, encouraged, and prayed for.

The Alpha coach is encouraged to check in with their Leaders each week to find out how things are going. He/She tries to sort out any issues Leaders may be having with other Leaders/Helpers or with guests. The Alpha coach can give advice or refer to the Alpha Director or Administrator if more help is needed. It is a great way to spread the responsibility and give the Leaders a more personal touch.

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4. How do I publicize our course?
The best publicity for the Alpha course is personal interaction. This includes church members and past Alpha participants inviting their friends and sharing the stories of changed lives that occurred because of the course. The link below will tell you more ways to get the word out about Alpha.

Promoting Your Course

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5. How can I get our clergy more involved or committed to the course?
Having the clergy involved in your course is critical to its long-term health and integration into the heart of church life. However different clergy have different gifts and passions, so the role you encourage them into will vary. It’s always better not to force your pastor into supporting Alpha, but rather convince them of the benefits of the course.

One great attraction of Alpha for the clergy (and therefore a selling point for you) is that it is the front line of ministry, and those who come have no expectation of him or her. So much of a pastor’s time is taken up dealing with problems and sorting out difficult situations. To come into a positive atmosphere like Alpha, where church members are serving and seekers have the freedom to share and ask their questions, can be very liberating for them. The pastor can have a significant impact on the course simply by endorsing it in services, even if they don't take on a big leadership role.

Some share in the teaching, especially at the Weekend Away, the healing evening or the talk “What about the Church?” Others simply come and meet people over dinner a few times during the course. It will be much easier for the Alpha guests to transition into the mainstream of church life if they feel that they have a sense of connection with the clergy. As far as commitment to the value of the course in the overall life of the church is concerned, coming to an Alpha Training event and beginning to see real fruit in the life of their own church are both very effective.

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6. We've run Alpha for our entire church and now no one is coming. How do we get our congregation to invite people to Alpha?

In order for Alpha to be run effectively, it has to be a part of a larger evangelistic strategy within your congregation. Keeping people fired up for evangelism is hard work. Humans by nature tend to look inward, so keeping them focused outward takes effort. It needs to be taught from the pulpit on Sunday, explored in classes or small groups through the week and encouraged through testimonies. Reaching out also needs to be modeled by your Alpha and church leaders. Evangelism is caught as much as it is taught.

Go to Developing an Evangelism Strategy for an in-depth discussion on developing an evangelism strategy from the Alpha USA director that includes vision, intention and means.

Keep in mind that often the first course has higher numbers of church members.  There is a trend that the second and third courses are very small,  sometimes as few as five to six guests.  It is important to not become discouraged by this.  At this stage perserverance is required.

It is likely that this small group will include fringe members or even those who were not attending church before.  Thus, the course is now beginning to fulfill its true function.  Hopefully, if one or two guests come to Christ and are filled with the Spirit, they will become excited about Jesus and bring along their family and friends.  So, the subsequent courses will become slightly bigger.

Remember that ideally Alpha is a rolling program of evangelism.  It may take a few courses to iron out the difficulties in getting started and for church members to gain the confidence to invite their friends.

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7. How can I keep our Leaders motivated?

• Continually add new Leaders and Helpers who have just recently completed the course. You can’t start each course off with a completely new leadership team, but when new Leaders are involved it keeps things fresh.
• Regularly share the stories of lives changed on the course. You need to celebrate with each other the incredible things God does with your team.
• Help each Leader or Helper find the best place for them to serve once the course is over.  Some may stay on and help with the next course, some may keep their small group together and do a follow up study, or some may move into another small group or ministry like the Marriage Course.

However, if more veteran Leaders/Helpers have indicated that they would like to return and help on the next Alpha course and you do not need them, take the time to let them know why they are not being asked back (i.e. you want to use more new Christians as Helpers, or the course is smaller this time, or you want to give others a chance to lead who have not had the opportunity). Good communication will help to avoid confusion and hurt feelings and they will be more likely to return to leadership if needed on a future course.

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8. Are there any other training resources to help small group Leaders learn to really listen?
We would recommend that during your training you take some time for role-playing so your Leaders can practice listening to each other before your small groups begin.

We encourage each small group to begin with the trusty two question combination. 

• "What do you think about ______?"
• "How do you feel about ________?"

Most people will have a reaction to one or both of those questions.  But having other questions to prompt discussion and taking the time to really listen to responses is critical.

Improve Listening Skills Article

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9. Our Youth Group is interested in Alpha. Is it possible to run Youth Alpha at the same time as the adult Alpha course?

Running Alpha for Youth and adult Alpha at the same time can work well, provided that the presentations and small group discussions are done separately. The meal preparation, serving, and clean up can be shared jointly by the two courses, as can the worship. For the presentations, the two groups need to be separate, as youth require a more interactive type of presentation than do the adults. Likewise, the small groups need to be separate, as adults may not feel comfortable discussing some of their thoughts, feelings and experiences in front of youth, and vice versa. Joint Weekends have been run, however, with great results. The testimony provided by an Alpha Course Administrator in Canada explains this most effectively:

“We are running youth and adult Alpha programs together on the same evening and are having a wonderful time. The youth present their own teachings using skits and Bible study instead of using the videos… We completed our Holy Spirit Weekend and we were greatly blessed by God through His presence and the joy of combining youth and adults on the prayer teams. We were not sure how the youth or adult guests would react to mixed prayer teams. It went extremely well and the youth team members impressed everyone with the gifts they shared in this ministry. I firmly believe that God is going to anoint more and more young people and children to do His work and to lead His church forward. The challenge will be for us wise adults to draw alongside them to allow them to use their gifts and to encourage and support them. Praise the Lord!!"

 No. A high proportion of Alpha courses are run in homes and the average course size is around twelve to eighteen guests. Some courses have only three or four guests and still comment that they are blessed and see God at work in their midst.

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