A Reflection on Alpha

I attended the first Alpha training held in North America. It was held at Truro Church in Fairfax, VA in 2000 or so. At that training we were told that Alpha generally works in two ways in a parish. The first way is a large first group, a smaller group the second time it is offered and then groups that grow each time thereafter. The second way is a smaller group the first time and a growing group each time thereafter. Neither pattern held true in our congregation nor in other congregations in our area.

What happened in our area is that whatever the size of the first or second group, after a few times Alpha works it way through as much as the parish as will come and with Episcopalians so reticent to invite others the Alpha courses get smaller and smaller and eventually it is time to hang it up. In three parishes in this area our parish did the most number of courses, five. In the two other parishes, Alpha went through three groups and died.

I'd be interested in hearing about the experiences of other churches who have or are doing Alpha. Alpha is a good program, but it has its limitations. I do believe that there are better ways to do evangelism and discipleship, but Alpha has a decent track record on both counts.