Course Basics

Are you Exploring Alpha?

If you are beginning to explore the Alpha course for your church, we have a section of the website called Explore Alpha for My Church that was developed just for you.

Are you ready to start a course? Here are Seven Steps to develop an Alpha course

1. Aim to attend an Alpha Training event

Nicky Gumbel has said ‘Running Alpha without attending an Alpha Training event, is like driving a car without taking any lessons.’

Churches that have not attended a Training event often make the mistakes listed below. If you have not yet attended one, we would strongly encourage you (and if possible, your team) to plan to attend one. We have found that those churches whose course Leaders have attended a Training event have experienced a far higher degree of success with their courses. There are a growing number of Regional teams and Advisors being developed around the USA. Click here to find out if there is one near you.

2. Think about your team carefully

If you get the right people leading and helping on the course, you will often get three times more people actually attending the course. The right leaders and helpers are those satisfying this simple test: ‘If I had a friend who was not a Christian, would I be happy to put my friend in that person’s group?’ Into that test is rolled a number of other factors: are they confident, positive, outgoing people who naturally relate to those outside the church?

3. Stay in training

Training the team is absolutely essential. Every member should attend the team training sessions before each course. This helps to refresh their memories and to build unity in your team. We also recommend the team reads the books Searching Issues and Telling Others.

4. Follow the recipe

Alpha is tried and tested. It has been running for more than 20 years. Every ingredient is there for a very important reason. Those churches that leave out an ingredient such as the meal or some other aspect of the course, diminish the impact of the course.

5. Don't forget the Weekend Away

A day with talks on the person and work of the Holy Spirit works very well. A weekend works far, far better. Churches that have cut this out have often been disappointed with the outcome of their course. If you need help with the Weekend or Day Away, click here for more resources in the library.

6. Plan the talks

The ideal is a live speaker doing the talks well. It is very hard to sustain a course where the talks have been done badly. The DVD's provide a safety net and are often the best solution, especially with smaller groups.

7. Keep Alpha rolling

Alpha is not a quick-fix solution to church growth. It is a long-term strategy which, when run well over an extended period, leads to a constant stream of new people. It should be run as a rolling program two to three times a year. This is important to keep the momentum going.

In order to make this possible, it is vital to train up new Leaders and Helpers. Existing Leaders will burn out if they are used too often. They should, perhaps, move on after a while to run home groups.

Helpers should be trained up to lead, and some of the guests from the last course should be invited to come back and help (so long as they fit into the guidelines set out above for a good Helper).

If we can be of help to you in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact us.