Running Alpha

Alpha is a form of evangelization that is thoroughly parish-based and does not require big-name speakers or the booking of football stadiums. People come to Alpha because their friends and relatives invite them. Then they in turn invite their friends and relatives. When people come to Alpha, they find themselves among people who are the local Church. It is the local parish community that is opening its doors in an unthreatening way. Alpha communicates the Gospel and shows others that churchgoers are normal, friendly people.

Alpha is a 10-week course

 

The Alpha course provides sufficient time for many of the participants to go through a significant conversion process. There are 15 talks in the course, allowing for one talk per evening and additional talks for a weekend away that is part of the overall program.

 

Alpha was created specifically for inactive Christians and non-churchgoers. But when the first Alpha course is held in a parish, it is usually filled with regular churchgoers. When these parishioners find themselves renewed in their faith, they then invite their friends and relatives to attend the course. Alpha gives ordinary parishioners a chance to tell those around them about their faith in a new and comfortable way.

 

The meal can be as simple as bread and soup, yet it is a vital part of the evening because it breaks the ice and brings people together.

 

After the meal, everyone watches a video-taped talk, which is fun to watch and helps avoid an "us and them" syndrome. The early talks show that it is reasonable to believe, and they show it in a very respectful way. The talks are persuasive, yet they do not apply pressure.

Free-flowing discussion follows the talk, with the help of a manual that serves as a reminder of key points for discussion. Group leaders often observe that, over the period of the course, participants switch from an atheistic to a Christian viewpoint.

 

There is also a one- or two-day retreat, during which participants experience the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

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