Equipping your parish in its mission to help people encounter Jesus
In 2019, over 5,600 Catholic parishes and organisations around the world ran Alpha with an estimated 310,000 participants.
Watch this short video to find out more about the impact of Alpha around the world.
What is Alpha?
Alpha is a parish tool for evangelisation where everyone is welcome. The same Alpha content is run all over the world, by Christians of all traditions, sharing the good news of Jesus. Each session has three key ingredients:
Hospitality
Whether in person over a meal or virtually with a cup of tea, all sessions start with a time to connect, relax, and build friendships. Eating food together creates space for people to connect and share life on a deeper level.
Talk
The Alpha talks are designed to engage people from all walks of life and inspire conversation. They explore the big issues of life and faith and unpack the basics of Christian belief, addressing questions like “Who is Jesus?”, “Why and how do I pray?” and “How does God guide us?”
Discussion
The discussion time is an opportunity for people to respond to the talk, hear from others, and contribute their own perspective in an honest, friendly, and open environment.
Alpha offers a very human, nonthreatening door for everyone to enter. I encourage people to try this model of evangelisation.
Alpha is not a silver bullet; it’s a tool. When used as part of a larger pastoral strategy, it is the best tool that I’ve found for jump-starting and sustaining parish renewal.
We have lost the art of evangelising those who don’t know the gospel at all. Alpha is re-training us how to do that.
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After Alpha
Alpha is just the beginning. Once guests experience Alpha, they understand who Jesus is and can start to explore their relationship with Him.