It is just within the last three years that Alpha courses have begun to spring up in churches across North America. To date, more than half a million people have been involved worldwide and each year the numbers increase dramatically. Currently, it is estimated that 2,000 churches are running one or more Alpha groups here in the United States.

So what is "Alpha?" It is a 10-week, 15 session course, run by local churches, that provides an opportunity for church members to reconnect with the gospel themselves, and then invite their friends, colleagues, neighbors and relatives to share the joy of their discovery.

This program began modestly in an evangelical Anglican Church in England, Holy Trinity Brompton in London, a church located just across the road from the world-famous Harrod's Store. The church has a long-time commitment to the ministry of evangelism, through the former vicar, Canon John Collins. Under the leadership of the present vicar, Sandy Miller, the church has maintained that tradition, and also experienced renewal through the ministry of John Wimber in the early 1980s. Today, it is a church which combines lively worship, a warm-hearted welcome, expository bible teaching, and a hint of Anglican Prayer Book liturgy.

Twenty years ago Holy Trinity developed a course in Christian basics for those who were regularly coming to faith in Christ through its regular ministry. In 1990 Nicky Gumbel (a former attorney) took over the course, then in one small group he discovered that 10 of the 13 members of the Alpha group were non-churchgoers. Seeing the impact of the sessions on non-churchgoers as they dealt with basic questions like "Who is Jesus?" "How and who do I pray?" and "How does God guide us?," he then decided to intentionally offer the course for inquirers into the Christian faith. Little did the church know what it was getting in to! With just four courses in 1991, before long other churches were asking for information about the Alpha course. In the past eight years it has mushroomed, with over 5,000 courses registered in 1996. Currently over 11,446 courses are registered worldwide. What is the explanation of its extraordinary impact? And what is its relevance to the North American scene?

The secret of its impact does not lie in any one element but rather in the combination of elements which represent the Alpha approach. Furthermore, this does not represent some new discovery, but rather the reintroduction of what the church learned during the first two hundred years of its existence. Namely, that effective evangelism does not, for most people, consist of a single event but of a process. This is especially important when communicating the gospel to those who either have little previous experience of the church or whose knowledge of Jesus and the gospel is minimal or non-existent. It is also relevant for those persons who have been put off by the church and who need a contrasting experience to replace their former negative image.

A second aspect of Alpha is one that Holy Trinity stumbled upon by accident. They discovered the importance of non-churchgoers being invited, not just to a meeting, but to a meal that sets off the program. Initially, Holy Trinity arranged the meal for the benefit of those who didn't have time either to go home or out for dinner before coming to the course. Once again, the early church is ahead of us, for the agape meal was an important element of their fellowship, to which those who were not yet Christians were invited.

Eating together is both a gastronomical and sacramental activity. Companionship is a powerful element in communications with the root of the word "companion" being "one with whom you eat bread." Having a meal together at the outset establishes the camaraderie for the group discussion which follows the worship time and the talk.

The third element is of particular significance to worship leaders in that companionship leads to worship. Unlike the "seeker-sensitive" approach, Alpha leaders believe that non-churchgoers can be drawn into the worship of the believing community on a "sing-along" basis. This approach may not work so well in a worship service setting where visitors still feel themselves to be outsiders. But in the context of an Alpha course, to which they have been personally invited and have had opportunity to get to know the people around them in the relaxed atmosphere of a meal, they are ready to join in the singing. In order for them to participate the songs must be chosen carefully and led winsomely. The Alpha songbook provides a selection which combines well-known hymns which are likely to be familiar to some of those present, with modern Scripture songs which have simple lyrics and a catchy tune. After attending a few sessions, the words of the songs are as likely to stick with people as the content of the lessons. Music gives wings to words, and the Holy Spirit can cause them to flutter in people's minds throughout the week.

A fourth element consists of presenting the gospel in clear language, focusing both on the key elements of the Gospel and the questions and felt needs which people bring with them. Throughout the western world, churches are discovering that evangelistic strategies based on a one-time presentation of the gospel are inadequate. Most people need more than one opportunity to hear, otherwise they suffer from information overload. Most churches running Alpha courses utilize Nicky Gumbel's videotaped talks because of his lighthearted and levelheaded approach. A further advantage the tapes provide is that following the talk it is easier to ask the group what they thought than if the leader had given the talk him/herself. (This is known as "playing the third-party gambit.")

Not only do they learn a little at a time during the 10 weeks of the course, but also they have ample opportunity to ask questions in a small group setting in order to clear up misunderstandings and overcome objections. They value the opportunity to hear from ordinary Christians, people with whom they can be in regular contact. They want to hear from them how they have processed the message. They want observe the impact it has made upon their lives. As they relate to them in the rough and tumble of daily life, they can identify with their struggles in embarking on their life's journey with Christ in company with the believing community and come to appreciate the profound difference Christ and the Church have made. Each group has two or three facilitators trained to listen carefully, respect people's opinions, and to avoid playing the expert. This last point is not hard for most of the group facilitators as they are themselves recent converts through participating in a previous course. And the conversation doesn't end with the close of each session, for as new friendships are forged and existing friendships are deepened so the sharing gathers momentum.

In the early church, groups for those attracted to the Christian community were called the catechemunate. By the third century such groups had become an essential part of the baptismal journey leading to the convergence of the individual's story with the story of Christ and a linking up with the corporate story of the local community of believers. Writing around 220 A.D., Hippolytus in Rome was recommending that the catechumenate should continue for three years. The Alpha course represents a modern, scaled-down form of that ancient catechumenate, whereby the local church welcomes the inquirer into its midst so that the church can act as the midwife in attendance at the new birth.

At the outset it was mentioned that the 10 week-course consisted of 15 sessions. This is explained by the fact that five of the sessions are held over a weekend, preferably in a residential setting. During this time teaching on the work of the Holy Spirit is given. The issue of empowerment, both in order to live the Christian life and also to serve Christ effectively in the world, is integral to the gospel. When the work of the Holy Spirit is downplayed, then the stage is set for the need of a subsequent experience. For the early church, when the majority of converts were coming out of active involvement in paganism, deliverance and exorcism was of vital importance. As the western world slides into postmodernism and succumbs to syncretism and outright paganism, this aspect of evangelism takes on greater significance in the contemporary setting. Holy Trinity Brompton is within the evangelical charismatic Anglican tradition. So churches with different theological and ecclesiological emphases will need to handle this aspect in a way in which they feel comfortable. At the same time they must ensure that the essential role of the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration and empowerment for ministry is not sidestepped.

The second question which we need to address is the applicability of the Alpha course to the North American scene. Nicky Gumbel would be the first to admit that Alpha is not for every church and that there are other ways to do evangelism. In some ways there are greater initial obstacles to overcome before launching into Alpha. Many churches are still wedded to hit-and-run approaches to evangelism. For many churches it is highly individualized, relying upon the one-on-one approach. Churches committed to the "revival" or "crusade" meeting approach regard evangelism as a one-shot, hot-sell, close-the-deal encounter. This stems from an age when most people have had prior contact with the church, and the evangelical tradition was widespread so that evangelism meant in most instances bringing people back to a gospel they had walked away from at some point in their life. But the times they are a-changing!

Today we have an under-35 generation which, for the first time in American history, is looking outside of the Christian tradition in its spiritual search. Furthermore, North America is becoming increasingly pluralistic, drawing many immigrants who identify with other religions. In this changing context, evangelistic strategies will have to be longer term. Generation X is particularly suspicious of institutional religion and the hot-sell, pre-packaged approach. They are unlikely to be convinced by rational arguments, but want to know if the message the church proclaims is authentic and whether the experience of God is significant and leads to radical transformation. They do not want simply to be challenged but to be changed.

For an older generation, the order in evangelism was you had to believe in order to belong. Today's approach reverses this order: you need to be welcomed and made to feel that you belong in order to believe. The Alpha course provides a time to learn, question and observe.

"Alpha" is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, but the Alpha course does more than just introduce people to Jesus. It also points the way to a life-long Christian discipleship, for Jesus is alpha through omega. In other words, He is the entire alphabet. No wonder Christians new and old have so much to sing about.