Proven Alpha Course Tips

Introduction

EVEN readers who have not personally been part of an Alpha team will be aware that a serious amount of effort is involved in planning and executing each course.  I want to commend all teams for desiring strongly enough to rescue precious souls that they are prepared to undertake so much work.  I also commend all readers for going to the trouble of obtaining this book.  I pray the Lord will use it for his glory.

As one researcher has said, Alpha is “applied with diligence and conviction” by those of us administering each course.  This individual has also observed that, on Alpha, he always feels “welcomed by honest and earnest people”.  My own experience of attending Alpha evenings as a guest has consistently agreed with both statements.  Yet, despite the wonderful welcome and the hard work, programs frequently experience substantial drop-out rates among unbelievers.

Obviously the exact proportion varies from course to course, but it is common for a significantly greater number of genuine seekers to fail to come through than would be expected.  It is particularly galling for teams to observe how rapidly the unsaved can leave — one serious study noted that, “a good many are lost in the first few weeks” — but even when participants do stay until the end of the course, they often vanish afterwards.

Given all the thought, time, money, preparation and prayer which is expended on coaxing unbelievers to attend Alpha, it is worth carefully considering why so many might be leaving.  Having looked into the subject for several years, I believe the Lord has graciously supplied certain valuable new answers.  This volume seeks, through a set of short chapters, to present those answers — and to offer workable solutions for overcoming the problems.

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES

MUCH of this book applies not just to the standard form of Alpha but to adapted versions also.  I should make clear too that this work focuses on very different topics from those discussed in the advice published thus far.  (I have summarized this in an appendix.)

For every cited Alpha publication, the latest available edition has always been used.  More details of these resources, including their publishers and dates, are supplied in the notes at the back of this book — along with details of the set of Alpha talks to which I have referred.

CONCLUSION

I believe with all my heart in this material.  (Incidentally, its value is optimized if it is read in the same order in which I have presented it.)  This volume owes a tremendous debt to the numerous Alpha team members, leaders and national coordinators who made such important suggestions.  I hope the resul