I have been a longtime fan of the Alpha Course (www.alphausa.org), and have used it on multiple occasions throughout the years. The Alpha Course is an approach to evangelism that, in my view, does everything right. Even the small nuances taught in their training videos are tried and tested to maximize your impact.
Alpha is described as an evangelistic course that seeks to introduce the basics of the Christian faith through a series of talks and discussions. It is described as “an opportunity to explore the meaning of life”. Alpha courses are run in churches, homes, workplaces, prisons, universities, and a wide variety of other locations. The course began in Britain and has expanded throughout the world by various Christian denominations presented in many different languages.
People are leaving the church in large numbers. According to a survey conducted by Group Publishing, people view the church as judgmental and hypocritical. They feel like the church is lecturing them. And they don’t believe that our God is relevant to their lives. These realities explain why fewer and fewer people are attending church.
The Alpha Course addresses these obstacles by meeting in non-threatening locations. They create a safe space for people to attend and talk freely. They emphasize serving food, preferably a meal, to create an informal and friendly atmosphere. A talk (not a sermon) is given each week, that addresses one aspect of the Christian faith, followed by a discussion. During these discussions, group members are encouraged to speak freely, without being “corrected” by the leader. In an Alpha Course, the talk or video speaks on behalf of the leadership team. Following the talk or video, the team leader’s focus is on encouraging discussion. This helps develop openness and trust.
The fourth key element of an Alpha Course is fun. This can range from telling jokes, to watching silly videos or participating in all of the fun elements of a Rock Solid Teen Center, including board games, video games, karaoke, action sports, and esports.
Rock Solid Teen Center staff are encouraged to go through the Alpha Course online training and to use Alpha Youth videos for the talks. They’ve had years of experience fine-tuning their talks and know just the right thing to say.
If you want to reach youth for Christ, the Alpha Course training videos are a gold mine of great ideas. And if you’re concerned about the cost, don’t be, it’s free!
Wishing you the many blessings that come through the Alpha Course training, ministry approach and video talks.
In service to Christ,
Mark Eastway
