Alpha Course Reviewed

Alpha is a course about the Christian faith and aims to answer questions about God and the meaning of life. For a couple of hours, one day a week for 10 weeks, Alpha will take you on a relaxed and informal journey to explore Christian values and how your questions about God matter. The course delves into only the basics of Christian teachings. It is not designed in any way to be a hardcore Bible endeavor, which makes it easy for anyone to get involved and feel comfortable.

Alpha is open to all persons - regular or irregular church goers of all faiths, nonbelievers, and all age groups. There's no cost to join.

A typical session begins with eating a good meal. While a donation for the spread is a nice gesture, it is certainly not required. When the meal is finished, a song may take place, and if someone has some musical talent in the group, that person may lead.

Afterward, the lights are turned down in order to watch a lecture video presented by Nicky Gumbel, who has run the course since 1990. Nicky is a gifted speaker, borderline poetic. His message centers around the identity of God. He sometimes points to life experiences and sometimes points to actual scripture to enhance his message. He brings a real world, practical view towards the topic of the day.

At the end of the lecture, you feel empowered to break out into the small group session, which is an important segment of Alpha. Depending on the size of the class, groups may contain up to 10 people including a leader. The small groups are the same from week to week so it makes it easier to get to know one another. The leaders tend to be persons who have gone through the Alpha course before, so their job is to guide the discussion. The leaders are not lecturers or teachers; they are facilitators.

The small group discussion has no particular format. The leaders may start the discussion with a question about Nicky Gumbel's talk and typically, the group discussion takes on a life of its own. Your opinions and thoughts are encouraged for the discussion. However, nobody forces you to talk; you may do so when you have something on your mind. You are welcome to ask any questions. You also have the personal option to just listen to the discussion and form your own thoughts and impressions. When the small group session is complete, which lasts approximately a half hour, the Alpha session comes to an end. The same format is repeated the next week.

Half way through the course involves a weekend retreat called the Alpha weekend. This is an expanded session of Alpha that models one of the regular sessions and lasts two days. You eat, sing, listen to a talk, and break out into small groups. The Alpha weekend has been known to have a significant effect on some attendees - pulling them closer to God by the close of the weekend.

If you are looking to learn more about Christianity, obtain a renewed connection to God, or keep your faith going, locate an Alpha course near you and go out and see what it's all about. For more information, visit Alpha's website at alphausa.org.