NEWS FEATURE: Alpha, a new evangelism movement, gaining U.S. adherents

c. 1998 Religion News Service FALLS CHURCH, Va. _ On a recent evening in the fellowship hall of The Falls Church, more than 100 people caught up on each other’s lives as they prepared to settle into their weekly session of the Alpha course. After socializing with plates of fish, corn and salad on their […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

FALLS CHURCH, Va. _ On a recent evening in the fellowship hall of The Falls Church, more than 100 people caught up on each other’s lives as they prepared to settle into their weekly session of the Alpha course.

After socializing with plates of fish, corn and salad on their laps, the mixed crowd of longtime churchgoers, new Christians,”seekers”and agnostics turned to the more serious aspect of their evening _ asking hard questions about prayer and healing.”How do you go about prayer for yourself without being a prayer hog?”one woman asked.


The Episcopal church’s rector, the Rev. John Yates, dressed in a white shirt and tie, answered the question by drawing on personal experience.”I pray this way regularly _ `Father, I feel a little funny asking you for thisâÂ?¦,'”he admitted.

Food, fellowship and discussion are the key aspects of Alpha, a 10-week course of study on basic Christian principles that is little-known in the United States. It began at Holy Trinity Brompton, a charismatic Anglican church in London two decades ago. Now, after being revamped in the early 1990s from a course for new Christians to an outreach to nonchurchgoers, it has swept through British churches and become as much a movement as a curriculum. The course is being offered in homes and churches _ Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal _ across the globe.

At last count, Alpha officials say there are about 10,000 churches in 75 countries offering the course. Half of those courses are in Great Britain, where plans are underway to invite everyone in the nation to take part in the study in the fall through a massive billboard campaign.”I never imagined Alpha would work outside of our parish,”the Rev. Nicky Gumbel, an English Anglican on the Brompton parish staff who re-worked the curriculum for nonchurchgoers, told the audience at a mid-April conference in Bethesda, Md. Gumbel is the author of”Questions of Life,”the book on which the course is based.

Organizers hoped the two days of training at the Maryland Alpha conference would lead to more courses in the United States. Most of the 450 attendees _ Catholics and Protestants, Baptists and Pentecostals _ knew almost nothing about Alpha and came to learn if it was for them.

Gumbel, the chaplain to Alpha, calls the course”evangelism for ordinary people”who don’t consider themselves natural evangelists. He compares it to a modern version of a crusade, proclaiming the same gospel message in a different form.”The message is an unchanging message,”he said.”The message comes to us in a package, in a cultural package … We have a duty to change the package if the package is not the best one for the people we’re trying to reach.” The Alpha package is a very organized one.

Conference participants followed along and took notes in a 76-page”Alpha Conference Speaker Notes”booklet, which included outlines of conference topics, advice on training course leaders and even suggested menus for the dinners. Course attenders at The Falls Church followed along with workbooks under their rector’s instruction before dividing into small groups for more intimate discussions.

Course materials stick to the basics _ Who is Jesus? Why should I read the Bible? How can I resist evil? _ rather than getting into areas that could become divisive in classes of people from different denominational backgrounds.”Catholics and Protestants both do the Alpha course,”said Alistair Hanna, North American director of Alpha.”If the Alpha course wanted to make a statement about the sacraments or a statement about baptism, it would probably lose one group or the other. And so Alpha doesn’t.” The ability of the course to bridge denominations and different levels of Christian maturity thrills Gumbel.”It’s just taken off, basically, in an extraordinary way,”he said.”I don’t think it’s explicable in human terms. This is the Holy Spirit.” The focus on all three aspects of the Trinity _ especially the Holy Spirit _ is a key part of the course. During the 10 weeks, course participants are encouraged to take part in a weekend retreat where they can learn about baptism in the Holy Spirit, which may include speaking in tongues or gifts of prophecy or healing.


Some church leaders have chosen not to include the charismatic focus, but Gumbel thinks the course isn’t the same without it. He said churches surveyed in England found those leaving out the emphasis on the Holy Spirit were the least satisfied.

Margaret Poloma, professor emerita of sociology at the University of Akron in Ohio, said the movement will be labeled by scholars of religion _ many of whom don’t know about it yet _ as charismatic.”What the movement’s about is a fresh experience of the Holy Spirit, which may or may not include speaking in tongues,”said Poloma, also a visiting professor at Southern California College in Costa Mesa.”They would expect things like healing and prophecy and miracles.” The series of sessions end with a”celebration supper,”which allows participants to invite friends and family members who they hope will take the next course. Course leaders hope past participants will either start attending church or become more involved in a congregation.

The course’s emphasis on asking questions and social interaction appeals to participants like J.D. and Allison Mechalske, who will become official members of the Yates’ congregation just outside Washington in June.”It clarifies what it truly means to be a Christian, what it truly means to have a relationship with God,”said Allison, a human resources specialist at a high-tech firm.

Her husband, a worker in a grocery store produce department, said it helps to know that others have the same questions and to be able to share those views over a meal.”Socializing is very important to help build the church family,”he said.

The small groups seem to appeal to participants _ no matter what their faith background.

Eric Holt, a non-Christian who came to the course at the invitation of a member of The Falls Church, said he liked the sense of”community”that developed in his small group.”There’s something about that that feels right,”he said, adding quickly,”I don’t know if that means that I’m going to become a Christian.” Although Holt, a Spanish professor, said the course has not prompted him to want to start attending church, he said,”I don’t intend to stop asking questions either.” (OPTIONAL TRIM _ STORY MAY END HERE)


The Alpha movement is funded through donations and purchases of resources, such as books and videotapes written by or featuring Gumbel, a lawyer-turned-Anglican priest.

Tricia Neall, Alpha’s international director said the organization lost about $30,000 last year. Contributions from Holy Trinity Brompton helped ease the shortfall.

Poloma, the sociologist, said the long-term success of the movement is still unknown.”If it’s aimed at also building Christian community, it may have a selling point,”she said.”If it loses sight of that and just makes this experience a one-time deal, then I think it’s going to fade away quickly.” Hanna, the North American director of Alpha, hopes the course will become as popular in this country as it has been abroad. At present, there are about 575 U.S. churches offering the Alpha course, double the number there were last year.”Our goal is to have 50,000 churches doing Alpha by the end of the year 2000 in the U.S.,”he said.”I think we’re adding somewhere around 50 a month.” Linda Jones left a session of the Maryland conference confident her Lutheran congregation in Honesdale, Pa., could be added to those numbers.”I think it’s very doable and it’s exciting,”said Jones, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America who had heard about Alpha from her local Episcopal priest.”There’s been such success with it, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be successful in my hometown.”

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