Alpha Course Picks Up Where Graham Crusades Leave Off
The growth in popularity of the Alpha Course - now reaching more than 7 million people worldwide - has caused leaders to demand conferences that would help them lead better courses and evangelize more youths.
The Alpha Course, a ten-week experience that allows seekers to understand Christianity or rediscover their faith, takes off where Billy Graham and other large-scale evangelistic ministries leave off. Referred to as "Christianity 101," the Alpha course helps seekers establish a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.
"A person that would go to a Billy Graham crusade and go forward – quite often we receive those contact cards, and we try to follow up," said Tony Kaiser, Alpha's Regional Representative in the New York Tri-State area.
"You've maybe had an experience of Jesus, but there is this whole idea of community. It's not just me and Jesus. Jesus has a family. It's called the Church," said Kaiser, who also serves as associate pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in West Hempstead, N.Y.
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The Alpha Course has seen a boom around the world, with a noticeable rise in the United Kingdom, where it first began twenty years ago, and in the United States, where a recent conference was held Oct. 10-11 at Christ Church in Greenwich, Conn.
Nearly 10 years after the course’s inception in 1996, more than 7,400 American churches are now participating. Worldwide, there are 32,000 churches in 160 countries, and in more than 60 languages. The total number of people that have taken the course stands at more than 7 million.
"My overarching goal is to create and sustain an evangelistic movement of the Holy Spirit that reached further into American culture to make disciples," said U.S. National Director Todd Hunter. "This is done via the local church and extensions: in small groups, prisons, the workplace, the military, and on campuses."
There are Alpha courses in prisons, Alpha for Catholics, Alpha for the armed forces, Alpha for students, youth Alpha, and many others.
As the demand for the course rose, leaders pressed for a conference to help them attract more people, particularly the young. The conferences, including last week's conference in the New York tri-state area, are specially designed to help local churches learn how to evangelize and teach the course.
According to Kaiser, the conference trained pastors and lay leaders to share faith in a very practical way for churchgoers and non-churchgoers.
Over 117 representatives from 53 churches came from the tri-state area and beyond. They represented Catholics to Pentecostals, Methodists to Baptists.
"Most churches don’t know how to share faith," said Kaiser. "Individuals know how to do it, but for a church… Alpha involves the entire church."
The conference models the ten-week Alpha course in two days. Participating leaders enjoy a meal together, watch a video, and ask questions in a small group setting and are taught to run the course in their local church.
During small group time, leaders are made aware that there are "no dumb questions."
Said Kaiser, "A lot of people don't know anything about Christianity, so we encourage everyone to simply ask questions and the answers come one week or the next."
The Alpha "Getting Started Seminar" is available for those who want to start an Alpha course.
The remaining conferences in 2005 will be held in Panama City, Fla., Nov. 3-4 and Des Moines, Iowa, Nov. 10-11. Next year, conferences will be held in 13 cities.
