 thumb|right|200px|the alpha course logo the alpha course is an evangelistic course which seeks to introduce the basics of the christian faith through creating an easy to enter context in which to hear a series of talks (either live or on video) and an opportunity for wide-ranging discussion. it is described by its organisers as "an opportunity to explore the meaning of life".from the official website of the alpha course http://alpha.org alpha courses are being run in churches, homes, workplaces, prisons, universities and a wide variety of other locations. the course is being run around the world by all major christian denominations.the alpha big-give at secure.thebiggive.org.uk. accessed on 17 feb 2013.alpha at resurrection at www.cor.org. accessed on 17 feb 2013. == history == alpha was started in 1977 by the reverend charles marnham, a curate at holy trinity, brompton, a church of england parish 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. the very reverend john irvine, at that time a curate at holy trinity, brompton, took over running the course and developed it into the 10 week format which continues to this day. in 1990 the reverend nicky gumbel, at that time a curate at holy trinity, took over the running of the course at the invitation of the reverend sandy millar (the then vicar) and oversaw its revision and expansion. the alpha course grew rapidly in the uk in the 1990s, from just 4 courses in 1991 to 2,500 in 1995. a peak was reached in 1998, when 10,500 courses were run. by 2001 this had fallen to 7,300.stephen hunt, the alpha experience: evangelism in a post-christian era (ashgate publishing, 2004) page 13 in 2008 over 33,500 courses were offered in 163 countries by anglican, presbyterian, lutheran, baptist, methodist, pentecostal, british new church movement and orthodox churches and the roman catholic church. over 15 million people worldwide have attended an alpha course (two and a half million in the uk).{{cite web|url=http://uk.alpha.org/type/alpha |title=alpha |publisher=uk.
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