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The Alpha course is a basic course on the Christian faith, commonly advertised as "an opportunity to explore the meaning of life". It has spread all over the world and is currently run in 152 countries by many different denominations. It is probably the most popular "introduction to Christianity" course in the world. A majority of the congregations running the course can be described as established churches with a renewal or evangelical tendency. A Christian is a follower of Jesus, whom they regard as a/the Christ. ...
Image File history File links Alphacourse. ...
Structure
The Alpha course is organized as a series of sessions over ten weeks, typically preceded by an 'Alpha Supper' which often includes the talk "Christianity Boring, Untrue and Irrelevant?" and with a day or weekend away which includes three or four of the talks asterisked below. Each session starts with a meal, followed by a talk (often a video of one by Nicky Gumbel) and then discussion in small groups. The talks aim to cover the basic beliefs of evangelical Christianity. The complete list of talk titles, which follows the chapters of Nicky Gumbel's book Questions of Life, is: Nicholas (Nicky) Glyn Paul Gumbel (born 1955) is an Anglican priest and author. ...
- Christianity: Boring, Untrue and Irrelevant?
- Who is Jesus?
- Why did Jesus die?
- How can I be sure of my faith?
- Why and how should I read the Bible?
- Why and how should I pray?
- How does God guide us?
- Who is the Holy Spirit?*
- What does the Holy Spirit do?*
- How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?*
- How can I resist evil?
- Why and how should I tell others?
- Does God heal today?
- What about the church?
- How can I make the most of the rest of my Life?*
The content is evangelical and draws heavily on the Anglican thought of C. S. Lewis and John Stott. C.S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898–22 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, and by his friends as Jack, was an Irish author and scholar of mixed Irish, English, and Welsh ancestry. ...
John Stott Dr. John Robert Walmsley Stott (born 27 April 1921) is a British Christian leader and Anglican minister who is noted as a leader of the world-wide evangelical movement. ...
Attendees are issued with The Alpha Course Manual, which contains an outline of each talk, and space for making notes.
History Alpha was written by Charles Marnham, a curate at Holy Trinity Brompton Church, an Anglican church in London. It started as a course for church members on the basics of the Christian faith, but then began to be used as an introduction for those interested in the faith. In 1990 Nicky Gumbel, at that time a curate (assistant minister) at Holy Trinity took over the running of the course from Sandy Millar, the vicar, and oversaw its revision and expansion. Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) is an Evangelical Anglican church in Knightsbridge, London. ...
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ...
London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ...
Nicholas (Nicky) Glyn Paul Gumbel (born 1955) is an Anglican priest and author. ...
From the Latin curatus (compare Curator), a curate is a person who is invested with the care, or cure (cura), of souls of a parish. ...
Sandy Millar is an Anglican Bishop appointed by the Church of Uganda as a Bishop in Mission to London. ...
In 2005, over 30,000 courses were offered in more than 152 countries, and in many Christian denominations. By 2005 it was reported that over 7 million people world wide had attended an Alpha course.
Doctrine As far as denominational slant is apparent in the course make up, the Alpha Course reflects its roots in the evangelical wing of the Anglican church. Since an explicit aim of the course is to appeal widely within Christianity, including to Roman Catholics, doctrinal differences are deemphasised. Nonetheless, views on salvation (through faith alone) and sin (inherent, and escapable only through Jesus) are identifiably Protestant. Catholic distinctives, for instance pertaining to saints and the Virgin Mary, are absent, although many Roman Catholic churches teach the course. The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of conservative Christianity, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ...
The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ...
Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...
Blessed Virgin Mary A traditional Catholic picture sometimes displayed in homes. ...
The New International Version of the Bible is quoted in the course materials. The Bible is described as "divinely breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16), although whether this view of scripture implies strict inerrancy is not made clear. While certain moral injunctions are deemed relevant and binding today, other controversial aspects of the Bible message are not subjected to a literalist interpretation. Perhaps most notable among these is the Biblical creation account, which Nicky Gumbel does not insist on being taken literally (Gumbel does not promote a hyper-literalist "young earth" teaching on creation), although his opinion on creation is not central to the content of the course. The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Christian Bible which is the most popular of the modern translations of the Bible made in the twentieth century. ...
Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible is without error. ...
Within conservative non-Charismatic evangelical Protestantism, the most controversial element of the Alpha Course is its charismatic slant. Heavy emphasis is given to the person and work of the Holy Spirit, and being filled with the Spirit, speaking in tongues and healing via prayer are introduced as practical gifts from God. Conversion stories in the book of Acts (see 2:1ff, 9:17-19, 10:44-46, 19:1-6) are seen as normative. The charismatic movement began with the adoption of certain beliefs typical of those held by Pentecostal Christians —specifically what are known as the biblical charisms of Christianity: speaking in tongues, prophesying, etc. ...
Released on September 27, 2005 by 845Ent. ...
Spiritual healing redirects here. ...
The Alpha Course itself avoids mention of divisive issues such as homosexuality, but alongside various evangelical texts recommended during the English version of the course, Nicky Gumbel's post-Alpha book, Searching Issues, condemns homosexual activity. "Searching Issues" also suggests that pre-marital sex is unequivocally wrong, that "New Age" materials (e.g. Ouija boards and horoscopes) are 'a power of evil' that should be removed from the home, and that demonic possession is a reality. The word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings over time. ...
A typical Ouija board Ouija (pronounced wee-juh or wee-jee) refers to the belief that one can receive messages during a séance by the use of a Ouija board (also called a talking board or spirit board) and planchette. ...
In astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the planets, other celestial bodies, and sensitive angles at the time of any event, such as a persons birth. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Praise The Alpha course has attracted praise as a technique for spreading an understanding of the basics of the Christian faith. Although begun in the Anglican church, it has subsequently been used by a variety of denominations and groups. It operates through unpressurised (albeit directed) discussion in a non-threatening environment. A Christian is a follower of Jesus, whom they regard as a/the Christ. ...
The Alpha course has been endorsed by a number of leaders, mainly of evangelical persuasion, including George Carey when he was Archbishop of Canterbury. The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has been slightly more guarded, describing it as "a very special tool" and "a unique mixture of Christian content and Christian style". The Right Reverend and Right Honourable George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton, PC (born 13 November 1935), was the 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury, from 1991 to 2002. ...
Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...
Dr Rowan Williams Lord Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams, FBA (born 14 June 1950) is the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a theologian, poet and lecturer. ...
Critics The Alpha course has been criticised for a Charismatic emphasis, which has led some critics to suggest that the course is insufficiently focused on the Bible, privileging instead experiential revelation. A particular bone of contention for non-charismatic evangelicals is Gumbel's endorsement of the so-called Toronto Blessing. As a result, some churches have chosen to teach a modified version which avoids the subject of the Holy Spirit, although this is discouraged in Gumbel's book How to Run the Alpha Course. The charismatic movement began with the adoption of certain beliefs typical of those held by Pentecostal Christians —specifically what are known as the biblical charisms of Christianity: speaking in tongues, prophesying, etc. ...
The Toronto Blessing is a term coined by the British press to describe the revival and resulting phenomena that began in January of 1994 at Toronto Airport Vineyard Christian Fellowship, now known as Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF), a neocharismatic evangelical Christian church located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ...
In various religions, most notably Trinitarian Christianity, the Holy Spirit (also called the Holy Ghost; in Hebrew רוח הקודש Ruah haqodesh) is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. ...
Another source of intra-Christian criticism is Nicky Gumbel's acceptance in Searching Issues that evolution is not incompatible with Genesis, and that the earth may not have been created in six 24-hour days. Genesis (Greek: ΓÎνεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin), also called The First Book of Moses, is the first book of Torah (five books of Moses), and is the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of...
Some churches have found that the fired-up expectations of Alpha graduates caused friction with more established members of the congregation.
More conservative critics (especially from a Reformed and Evangelical perspective) have complained that the course does not adequately define sin and therefore does not properly explain the reason for Jesus' death and resurrection. Nonetheless, Alpha talk number three "Why did Jesus die?" does outline four negative aspects of sin, as well as making clear that Jesus's death on the cross is the only remedy. The Christianity Explored course is an attempt to go beyond what the Alpha Course teaches on sin. The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations historically related by a similar Zwinglian or Calvinist system of doctrine but organizationally independent. ...
The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of conservative Christianity, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ...
SiN is a computer game developed by Ritual Entertainment and published by Activision in late 1998. ...
A course designed to introduce outsiders to the Christian Faith. ...
Some aspects of the doctrinal position promoted (see "Doctrine" heading above), most notably that regarding homosexuality, are highly controversial within the Anglican Communion, as well as in the wider church.
Related and alternative courses Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) is an Evangelical Anglican church in Knightsbridge, London. ...
A course designed to introduce outsiders to the Christian Faith. ...
The Gospel of Mark is traditionally the second of the New Testament Gospels. ...
Introducing God is an Australian video-based evangelistic tool created by Dominic Steele, who founded Christians in the Media. ...
Two Ways To Live is a popular evangelistic tract developed by Philip Jensen. ...
Blowing Your Cover is an evangelism training course created to equip, train and prepare born-again Christians to share their faith with others so that non-believers will be encouraged to become Christians. ...
See also Each March, U.S. college students spend Spring Break participating in “Big Break,†a Campus Crusade outreach to Panama City Beach vacationers Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian mission organization, focusing on evangelism and discipleship in over 190 countries around the world. ...
Cursillo is a renewal ministry of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in Spain by a group of men in the 1940s, while they were refining a technique to train pilgrimage leaders. ...
List of Christian denominations (or Denominations self-identified as Christian) ordered by historical and doctrinal relationships. ...
Youth for Christ is an international Christian ministry program that promotes youth evangelism and biblical Christianity. ...
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