P eople meeting together. An opportunity to get to know each other and make new friends. H elping one another. The small groups give you a chance to discuss issues raised during talks. A sk anything.
Alpha is a place where no question is regarded as too simple or too hostile.
It is currently running in churches of all the major denominations - Anglican, Baptist, Elim, Episcopal, Free Church, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army and United Reformed. But what's new is the way that institutions that might otherwise seem stuffy and conservative have chosen a new type of interface with the public, one that suits the times and provides the means for people to go through a consumer-style deliberative process of choosing their commitment. Stripping the gospel down to its bare essentials, it makes Christianity accessible to men and women of today's culture. As course organizers realized non-churchgoers were increasingly attending and converting to Christianity, the Alpha ethos was developed. The method of welcome, the atmosphere of the small groups, the food, the seating, the flowers, the sound, and the material of the talks themselves were all changed to make them as attractive as possible to the person who walked in 'off the street'.