Seven steps to an effective Alpha course
1 Aim to attend an Alpha conference
Nicky Gumbel has said ‘Running Alpha without attending
a conference, is like driving a car without taking any lessons.’
Churches that have not attended a conference often make the
mistakes listed below. If you have not yet attended a conference
we would strongly encourage you to come to one of the conferences
listed in Conferences.
We have found that those churches whose course leaders have
attended a conference have experienced a far higher degree
of success with their courses.
2 Think about your team carefully
If you get the right people leading and helping on the course
you will often get three times more people actually attending
the course. The right leaders and helpers are those satisfying
this simple test: ‘If I had a friend who was not a Christian,
would I be happy to put my friend in that person’s group?’
Into that test is rolled a number of other factors: are they
confident, positive, outgoing people who naturally relate
to those outside the church?
3 Stay in training
Training the team is absolutely essential. Every member should
attend the team training sessions before each course. This
helps to refresh their memories and to build unity in your
team. We also recommend the team reads the books Searching
Issues and Telling Others.
4 Follow the recipe
Alpha is tried and tested. It has been running for more
than 20 years. Every ingredient is there for a very important
reason. Those churches that leave out an ingredient such as
the meal or some other aspect of the course diminish the impact
of the course.
5 Don't forget the weekend away
A day with talks on the person and work of the Holy Spirit
works very well. A weekend works far far better. Churches
that have cut this out have often been disappointed with the
outcome of their course. If you need help with the weekend
or day away, contact your Alpha adviser who can give advice
or even arrange for a team to come and help you.
6 Plan the talks
The ideal is a live speaker doing the talks well. It is
very hard to sustain a course where the talks have been done
badly. The videos provide a safety net and are often the best
solution, especially with smaller groups.
7 Keep Alpha rolling
Alpha is not a quick-fix solution to church growth. It is
a long-term strategy which, when run well over an extended
period, leads to a constant stream of new people. It should
be run as a rolling programme three times a year. This is
important to keep the momentum going.
In order to make this possible, it is vital to train up new
leaders and helpers. Existing leaders will burn out if they
are used too often. They should perhaps move on after a while
to run home groups.
Helpers should be trained up to lead and some of the guests
from the last course should be invited to come back and help
(so long as they fit into the guidelines set out above for
a good helper).
If we can be of help in any way, please don’t hesitate
to let us know.
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