Alpha - anyone starting the course this Autumn?

[newbeliever]

Hi everyone, I mentioned on another thread about starting a thread for Alpha newbies.

I have signed up to do the course this Autumn, starts Tuesday, 28th September. Was quite surprised when I rang the parish office, there are about 40 people on the course - and it's for 3 hours each week - I was thinking 2 hours max! They start the evening off with dinner and drinks before moving onto the topic for the week. How do your churches run the course?

Thought it would be nice to share our thoughts each week in a safe place - I'm worried about not knowing what to say or just not understanding the topic so would be good to have some fellow MNr's on the journey too.

Anyone else want to join me?

CS Lewis has been recommended to me before and is on my Amazon list of authors to read . Had to google 'Christian Apologist' as was not familiar with the term! Gumbel seems to quote Lewis a lot!

MrsC, hello and I recognise your name from the prayer threads.

It is really weird though that there are a few people in my Alpha group who are so 'black and white' about religion. I have many questions especially regarding pluralism. Living in an international community, I know so many good, kind, honest and virtuous people who have led much better lives than me but because they are Muslim or Bhuddist, will, according to my church, not be saved. This is one of the aspects of Christianity that I find most difficult to accept and would like to talk about.

Thanks to everyone posting here! I find it really interesting to hear rom others who are on a similar journey

oxo I felt exactly the same! I cannot believe in a God who would condemn someone to eternal suffering simply for having been born into the 'wrong' time / place / culture.

Many, many Christians feel the same and I was delighted to come across the doctrine of 'Universalism' (google it!) - via an older lady at church, who comes across as very "school ma'am" and who I had (mistakenly and foolishly!) assumed was a very conservative 'hell-fire' kind of Christian.

Universalists believe that all are ultimately saved. There are interpretations of Bible passages that are entirely compatible with this - for example, the sheep and the goats passage: the word 'goat' in context actually denotes a different breed of sheep, one that was very well known for needing a great deal of extra care and attention. Wheat and chaff: well, why would you take chaff with you? Shed it, and you have a kernel of wheat you can work with. You are shedding an outer layer, not separating one group of people from another.

Coming to God through Jesus to me actually means that we are able to come to God because of Jesus. He's not so much a 'bridge' between us and God as a giant fishing net scooping everyone up, in my mind!

I know some would argue that my reasoning is theologically unsound, but as I said, I cannot believe in a God who would turn his back on anyone!

Hi everyone - nice to see the posts picking up!

Oxo - interesting your course uses DVDs, I'm fairly sure the one I'm going on doesn't - I wonder how it will be run instead?

Shall be looking up CS Lewis at the weekend - I haven't had that recommended to me before. Also, welcome Mrs Cadwallander - v interesting post on universalists, I'll have to look that up too! Lots of homework for me this weekend.

Got to dash - should be getting ready for night out now

Thanks for all your posts. Am really reading with interest as I cannot attend Alpha course due to DH being away during the week. I was brought up as a church goer, took a break when I left home and then started going again when I had children. I love the sense of community and want to bring my children up in the same way as I was brought up. But I have so many questions (some the same as Oxocube) and feel as though so many aspects of my faith have not been explained to me - I just go along every week and follow the service. Does this make sense?

newbeliever - I thought all the Alpha courses included the Nicky Gumbel recordings of him giving the course in London. Interesting - I wonder what yours will be like? I think that he does have something quite (spooky!) compelling about him.

Hope you had a good night out! So much for me being a good Christain - I am recovering from a horrible hangover from drinking too much cheap wine at a school BBQ last night

Some places use the DVDs a la Nicky Gumbel, others use the topics and sort of do the talks themselves.
Nicky is a bit of an acquired taste IMO!

Oxo thankfully you dont have to worry about being a "good" Christian..... I dont think any of us would be able to do that, but I hope the evening was worth the hangover and you feel better soon.

Feeling v curious about Tuesday night now - will report back too. I'll have to look on 'youtube' or something after Tues night as I'll be wondering what I'm missing by not seeing the Nicky Gumbel DVDs.

Oxo - hope you didn't suffer too much this morning. I was a bit 'worse for wear' Saturday morning - that was a school night out too - the new Reception mums certainly know how to enjoy themselves.

I had a long chat with a good friend today who did Alpha six months ago. We are both not so sure who Alpha is aimed at as all the internet related literature seems to suggest that it is primarily for the curious but not yet believers, the uncertain Christians etc. I don't fall into this catagory as I have (albeit very quickly) come to believe totally.

Newbeliever, I will be very interested to hear how you get on and what you think of the whole set up. I think my main gripe was that it took ages to get to the point of discussing Christianity as more than half of the evening was taken up with food and tea and chit chat!! Possibly its really important for some people to make friends with others and to participate in the social aspect of Alpha but personally, I would rather eat dinner with my family and then get down to business at the Alpha meeting

Same here Oxocube - don't think I can wait until 7.30/8 to eat anyway, so will probably end up eating twice . I would much rather crack on with the discussion itself too - I think I will suss it out over the first few weeks and then maybe time it to turn up when the 'meal bit' has finished.

Yes, I have been wondering what the split will be between curious/new believers - I'm starting to wonder whether I should be on a different course - I do believe, but have some questions I struggle with - but then I think most Christians do.

Perhaps one of our three 'mumnetter Alpha advisors' could help on that one.

Will report back after tomorrow.

I think every Christian has questions and I also think it would be a very poor faith that did not allow those questions to be asked and thought through. I think the alpha course is a good place for anyone to be able to ask those questions in a non-threatening, open environment. Some are already Christians, some are not and may not like the answers, and may not go any further for now. Some might have been Christians for many years, but never really moved forward with their relationship with God. Some may just like to go along and meet some other Christians that they might be able to become friends with. Nobody could ever put the "normal" alpha go-er into a box, really.
Alpha will just take you from wherever you are now and help you to take further steps. I was a Christian when I did the course, but it all became like new again and really helped me grow in my faith.

On the subject of the meal, I have to say that when I did the alpha course and for the ones that my DH has led, the meal has been a very important part of the evening. The best groups we have had are the ones who have gelled as a group and who all encourage each other and support each other. It is Sooooo encouraging to see the person who sits on day 1 of the course and dis agrees with EVERYTHING, who is antagonistic to anyone else and causes a fair few raised eyebrows.... then a few weeks into it they start asking really thoughtful questions, then may go quiet for a while and suddenly have moved a huge way forward. If you are all relating to each other as "friends" after a few weeks because of the time shared with a meal it will really enhance the evenings for everyone. I would really urge you to go and socialise with the meal and give it a go. Also, a free meal (well, ours is free anyway) and a child-free meal, No-brainer for me.

Also, once alpha has finished we always do a "beta" course, which will take things deeper, but with the foundations firmly there from the alpha IYSWIM. You may find that another group will be good for you, but I would still urge you to go through the alpha and really answer any questions and get the foundations set and then you can build on that. You never know, you may be able to help someone else on the alpha with a specific point that you have worked through already.
I will be thinking of you tomorrow, let us know how it goes.

PA has said it all really well :)

Alpha can definitely be for anyone, Christian or not. Whenever I lead my courses I always learn something new or think about something in a new way which is a good thing. I believe we were given thinking minds for good reason, and should use them to the best of our ability to question, to think around issues, to engage with doubt. All healthy stuff. I get very suspicious when I hear of sects/cults that quash any kind of curiosity and thought, and just encourage blind following. Faith and reason go together, a fascinating paradox at times.

Agree re the meal too - it can be the most important part where people meet and gel and get to the meaty issues they may not get to in the discussion times.

So Alpha can be great for new believers, helping to ground some of that newborn faith. It's an exciting time for you.

Keep the questions coming, it helps us 'oldies' too, to think about all these issues. It's great for me as I'm leading a course atm so getting all this IRL - helps me to think aloud here a bit :)

Maybe it was because last week's dinner was the first Alpha meeting - it seemed to take forever! I hate people feeling awkward or uncomfortable so I went to loads of effort to chat to people, to try to make everyone feel comfortable and came away feeling exhausted, like a hostess at a rather odd dinner party - and it wasn't even my house or my course . I guess at least this tells me something about myself!

Am hoping things will get better. Some people said nothing unless directly asked a question which is another reason I was glad to get down to the actual course content! Its good to be able to air this on here as there are few people I could discuss this with inreal life without sounding very uncharitable!

Oxo - you have hit the nail on the head there! I hate people feeling awkward or uncomfortable so tend to over-compensate myself! Often leave functions like that with a banging headache.

So, will be going with an open mind tonight and will be mindful of not trying to talk to everyone in the room - hopefully I will connect with one or two people early on so I don't experience the same issues.

Thanks for the feedback PositiveAttitude and Madhairday - you have helped me to see it from a different angle, also thanks for confirming who Alpha is for, will be interesting to see who goes tonight.

Good luck newbeliever! Am excited for you

First report: Week 1 - Was v shocked to see about 60 people on the course . 70/30 split female/male - would estimate about 70% were in 30-40ish age group.

We were split into 6 groups for the meal - was a bit overwhelming to start off with, especially as I recognised quite a few people. The food was fab and there was an interesting mix of people on my table. Had one 'non-believer' who questionned absolutely everything during the course of the evening - think the leader in our group found him a bit hard-going!

After the meal we moved across to the church for coffee + a cake before the presentation. The Nicky Gumbel DVDs were not used, but the curate did use powerpoint, clips from films and music to illustrate his points. I found the presentation very interesting and moving. After the presentation we split back into our groups for discussion. Unfortunately, there was only 30 minutes left at that point and the 'non-believer' chap was hogging the conversation.

Evidence for the resurrection was the bit questionned most by my group - although I started out being quite accepting of the evidence, I had such a questionning group I found myself starting to wonder how do we really know?! Obviously a key point to accept as it is the corner stone of Christianity.

Will return later - as need to pick up my son from school.

Oxo - have you got your 2nd session tonight? Hope you get more time for discussion this time - what are you cooking?

ooh interesting NB. I have 2nd session tonight and have made a roast vegetable lasagne and herby garlic bread. Another lady is making a chicken curry and rice!!

Funny, in my group last week, the resurrection wasn't doubted at all (at least not openly!) Will also return later as need to shop and get sorted for this evening, as well as cooking the lasagne

Ps - what did you have for dinner?

In the middle of getting tea at the mo - but we had chilli + rice - complete with sour cream + herbs! Followed by the most amazing selection of cakes - it was very tricky to choose.

All the home groups at church take it in turns to do the catering, also each table had someone who went through Alpha last year as a support. It does seem v well run - I just hope some of the characters in my group don't continue to dominate the conversation.

Have a good time tonight.

Well tonight went much better than last week. Almost everyone contributed to the discussion (some more than others, including me ). At one point, it almost became like a counselling session which was weird! One of the women who I see at church but who says she is struggling with Faith said she finds it hard to accept that she needs God in her life. She says that usually she thinks "I am fine, I'm doing okay on my own, belief might be a nice feeling but I don't need Jesus in my life".

She then went on to say that she finds the concept of surrender v difficult and that she struggles with asking anyone for help because she had become so used to coping on her own. (I think she is a single mum) She said that this feeling impacts all her relationships, not just those with God.

Another young girl there said she really struggled with the concept of God as Father as her own dad walked out and rejected her when she was 15

We had an interesting discussion about sin and sacrifice and the difference between the earthly view of sin and God's view, with lots of different opinions.

Looking forward to your next report newbeliever.

(chicken curry and rice, veggie lasagne and garlic and herb bread, salad )

oxo if it makes you feel better, we quite often sniffle our way through our weekly Bible study group :)

It's an emotional process - try not to be surprised or 'frightened' of it.

Oxo and newbeliever - it is great to hear you are enjoying the alpha course. It sounds like you are both getting loads out of it.

Hope it goes well tonight newbeliever and you tomorrow, oxo.

Come and let us know.....and of course, the important stuff, like what you ate.

Sorry for not responding sooner - had a weekend away and lots to catch up on!

Thanks Positve Attitude. Looking forward to tonight.

Oxo - thanks for last week's report, glad it went better for you. I think it is going to be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, especially as I'm not used to discussing my faith - apart from on here .

Will report back on here tomorrow . . . I wonder what I will be eating tonight . . .

I am cross with myself as I am sick today and won't be going to Alpha tonight . I've felt rubbish for over a week now with blocked sinuses and a cold which seems to developed into a chest infection and I made the decision after work today that I would be better off having a hot bath and an early night (after Alpha, I don't get home until almost 11)

I did read the chapter in the book for week 3 which was called 'how can we have faith?'

How did you get on last night, newbeliever? I look forward to your reports!! Sorry I can't report on tonight's dinner but next week, I am making pudding which will either be apple crumble and custard or raspberry pavlova!

So sorry to hear you are unwell and not able to go tonight.
early night and hopefully you will feel better soon.