Three effective keys

There are three Keys to running an effective Alpha course that involve the role of the Senior Pastor.  Others may be responsible for the actual operation of the course, but without the critical support of the Senior Pastor the course will rarely bear abundant fruit.

The reason: The Alpha course is laden with the DNA to unleash the power of the gospel to transform lives in Jesus Christ.

It's like having a BMW in your driveway .... you can use it to drive to the corner grocery store, once a week, one block away. And it works "fine." But it carries so much more potential!

The Senior Pastor is the one person in the church who is charged with the responsibility of deciding how and to what extent the "BMW" is driven--if you will--even though he/she is not necessarily the driver of the car.  Similarly, the Senior Pastor is the one who is charged with the responsibility to decide how and to what extent a "culture of outreach will be driven" in the congregation.  If the Senior Pastor allows the Alpha course to be positioned in the congregation so as to broadly seed and shape its culture, the engine under Alpha's "hood" will be unleashed and bring renewal and transformation to the entire church.

To run an effective Alpha course, the Senior Pastor needs to focus on these three KEYS:

1.  The Senior pastor recognizes that he/she has the primary responsibility to shape and guide the congregation's culture, in general, including a culture of outreach, in particular.

• Developing or embracing a culture of outreach in the congregation belongs properly to the role of the Senior Pastor, even if the actual process or programmatic elements of evangelism and outreach falls into the responsibility of another person.  

2. The Senior Pastor supports the Alpha course as the primary front door, or evangelism tool, of his/her church.

• Alpha is most effective as a primary “front door” to the church for non-believers/non-church goers, rather than simply  "one of many" side-doors.

3. The Senior pastor is willing to provide Alpha with the proper position in the over all ministry of the church to help shape a culture of outreach throughout the whole congregation.