Alpha is an Idea
What if there was a space where people could come to talk about the questions they carry? A place
to discuss issues of life, faith and God in a welcoming environment. Alpha gives the chance to
explore the Christian faith, ask questions and share your point of view.
Alpha is a Story
Alpha began in 1977 at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican Church in London, as a course for people
new to the Christian faith. In 1990, Nicky Gumbel took on Alpha and shifted the focus towards
people who are not part of any church. Since then churches across the globe have used Alpha in
churches, schools, universities, prisons, cafes, pubs, restaurants and homes to invite their friends to
explore life, faith and God together.
Alpha is a Tool
Alpha is a flexible tool that makes it easy for anyone to explore the basics of the Christian faith. It has
a structure that is tried and tested to create spaces for conversation, teaching and community which
are welcoming, relaxed and low pressure for those not normally in church. It is made up of 15
sessions usually covered over 10 or 11 weeks including a weekend or day away. The sessions include
social time centred around food, a short talk introducing an aspect of the Christian faith and a time
of open discussion and questions together.
Alpha at John Keble Church
As we run the Alpha Course over Spring-Summer at our Church we still have to face Covid-19
restrictions and so will be meeting online through Zoom, unfortunately missing out on the meal part
of the evening. As we go through the course we will also adapt it to our own context at JK and make
sure that it’s appropriate for the church here. Our hope is that if we go through the course at this
time and become familiar with it, we will then be in a position to share it more widely with our
community in the Autumn time – and also be able to meet in person then as well.