Jul
16
Say “No” to Alpha
ByTed Hale – current BMS Chair – has contributed this provocative piece on Alpha; have a read, and let us have your comments. Should get a discussion started!
Click the link to read link
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Some interesting toughts on Alapha. I first became aware of Alpha at a congircational church in Bridport, VT. USA. I became a Elder there. We ran 1 or 2 courses, I believe God used it as a basic tool, to teach many older and younger in the church some good basic believes, and some outside the church it planted seeds to salvation. In that place God was using it as a tool to reach some in the church, who didn’t know what they believed. the last few years it’s been mainly used as a out reach to the unchurched, in a very rual area and very unchurched. Spiritualy very dark in Vermont, it reminds me of Europe. I would love to come and Pastor a church in the UK.
There needs to be a serious consideration of the personality types of group members and in my experience Alpha does not suit those with any intravert tendency. Too many churches are dependent on Alpha as their only form of outreach and encouragement of new members. It suits some but we really need to utilise a greater variety of group activity.
Alpha is only one tool for the church to use to spread the good news. You can’t blame a saw for not being a screwdriver. Who would want to say Alpha is the only way to do evangelism? Not me! Paul tried to be all things to all people so that he might win *some*. Rather than knocking Alpha let’s just accept its limitations, which may be as you have pointed out and is a useful observation.
Whilst we don’t use Alpha as it is too long a commitment (too many sessions) and geared towards people who like long lectures I cannot agree with Ted’s critique as it can only apply to those who don’t use discussion groups or who keep the groups tightly reined. Alpha or any other well used course will use the input (talk / DVD) to stimulate exploration and questioning, not to dictate what to believe. Without new input any “sharing” goes over old ground, so the ideal is input and exploration, stimulus and discussion. Alpha achieved that but largely for a student type clientele, other, better alternatives are around now, but what made alpha work was the welcome, food, and exploration.
Let’s not forget that for Joe Public “Alpha” is probably the only introduction to Christian belief they have heard of (Thanks to extensive advertising which at least stimulated interest). So the question “Are you an Alpha church?” is as likely to mean “Do you welcome beginners” as “Do you insist upon a pretended certainty and a prescribed meta-narrative?”
My response would have been “We can do better than that – we can tell you a bit about our faith and engage in any questions you have about God or about life”