Alpha is a free course and is intended for those people who are interested in finding out more about the Christian faith. It is carried out in an informal, non-threatening environment and includes a meal, a short talk and discussion groups.
Visit the Alpha Website to find out a little bit more information on the course structure.
This is the story of Sally Hunt who attended one of our earlier courses.
“I attended Alpha after a friend, who is a Christian, invited me to go along. I had been asking her a lot of questions so it felt quite natural at that point to go on a course where I could ask as many questions about God, death and anything in between! What led me to that point was probably 10 years of ‘searching’ for something. I had always felt curious about God and after having travelled around South East Asia for 6 months, where they think it’s strange not to talk about God, I knew I wanted to know more.
Going to Alpha with a friend definitely made a huge difference, I’m not sure I would have gone through the door on the first night without her! Everyone helping on Alpha was really friendly and I soon found myself feeling quite at home sharing a meal and chatting to the other Alpha guests each week.
Everyone helping on Alpha was really friendly and I soon found myself feeling quite at home
Watching the DVDs of Nicky Gumbel, the Alpha Founder, give talks on the subject of God and Jesus was definitely a weekly highlight. Whereas I had found Religious Education (R.E) at school very boring, I found his approach very amusing and light-hearted, he presented Christianity in such a way that not only did I find it interesting but through the group talks after the DVD I could really start to relate to what he was saying.
Alpha provided me with a friendly and relaxed environment to talk about spiritual issues and learn what the Christian faith is, allowing me to make my own decisions and draw my own conclusions each week. This non-judgemental approach and opportunity to ask some of life’s BIG questions (oh and the free tasty meal!) definitely made Alpha a really good experience.”