Alpha Course?

[mumofjust1]

Has anyone done the Alpha Course?

Could you tell me what it's like?

Thanks

Attempted indoctrination was my experience but there have been a few threads on this and people's experiences have really varied.

Hi, I have just started the course after putting it off for the last 10 years. I just found now was the right time for me to go. I did not know anyone and turned up on my own. I have to say everyone i have met there are very non judgemental and have made me feel welcome after only the second week. Wether you beleve or not other people do not try and empose there beleifs on you. Take a chance even if its just to meet some new people. Hope this helps x

Thanks lollystix - that's kind of what I was wary of

Wazzlo - well done for getting on the course, and going alone - I hope I can find the confidence to do the same. How long is the course? Each session?

Thanks both for your replies x

mumofjust1 - if you're keen I would give it a go as you have nothing to lose. I went with an open mind hoping to learn something about god/jesus etc from a factual perspective. My dad had become a 'born again' and I wanted to try and understand him a bit better. The people were lovely but I just found no answers and alot of prejudice. I was 'wrong' for living in sin, homosexuals were just ''wrong' and anyone who didn't believe was 'wrong' - there seemed to be very little rationale as to why - just because god and the bible said so. Having been brought up aethiest, I naturally found this all hard to accept.

It was about 5-6 sessions listening to Nicky Gumble videos and discussing afterwards. The last session was a day long session when they kept asking us to prey which I did find really very uncomfortable as I couldn't prey to something I didn't believe in and they didn't seem to accept this - it felt a bit cult like and sadly I couldn't wait to get home. Alot of the people on it seemed to be couples who were about to get married and the bloke seemed to be going along because the girl wanted a nice church wedding and the vicar had asked them. Sorry but it really was as shallow as that. Nice people though - just a bit off the wall for me and judgemental.

I'm sorry you had that experience, lollystix. Unfortunately there will always be those who are not so sensitive in the way things are presented, and don't give a wider view.

Most courses ime are open and more of a journey, talking together, encouraging questions. There are some good threads about alpha if you want to look back. There are other courses on offer too, some of which are perhaps less prescriptive than alpha - Christianity Explored is a good one, there are others around too - you might want to have a google around.

I would encourage you to go and see if questions are encouraged and people are welcoming and friendly. Then see how it goes. All the best.

I helped on an Alpha course last year and loved it. As a Christian it was a brilliant experience to discuss lots of issues relating to Christianity but also life in general with a real mix of people. The course I helped on was made up mostly of people who had had some encounters with the Church/Christians during their lives and wanted to come and explore all of this. There were a few threads on here last year, or the year before, where people discussed their experiences on the Alpha Course which was really interesting.

They serve you dinner, which you eat while chatting normally (not religion) with fellow attendees, they (probably) show a video (some places do a talk instead), which is by Nicky Gumble, a sort of Tony-Blair-lite, and quite entertaining. Then there's a discussion at the end in small groups. You can all ask questions.

I think it lasts something like 1 hour dinner, 45 minute video, 45 minute discussion, so 2.5 hours total.

Not an unpleasant experience at all. But it obviously depends on the individuals running/attending.

Yes, I would point out that the materials are all standardised but the actual course is just run by volunteers from the loacl church. Obviously, some churches and volunteers are welcoming, open minded, and genuinly want just have a discussion about some of the issues raised by christianity.

Some are nutters and want to convert you at all costs.

really it's luck of the draw. Churches all agree with the basic ideas of the alpha course, but in the discussions, obviosuly, all sorts of questions are brought up, and the answer you get will depend on the theology of the church running the course. The basics are the same (jesus was god, loves you, died for you, rose from the dead...) but the extras (especially around sexual morality, specific sins, the role of women in the church, the way the bible is interpreted etc) will vary from christian to christian and church to church. That's why we chrisians get ourselves in such a tangle - God gives us a lot of margin for error .

Why don't you go and see, and if there are particular bits you find interesting / troublesome, come back here for a wider christian perspective?

I also think t's fair to say that the aim of Alpha is to give people the facts about Christianity and answer their questions, so they become Christians. Christianity is an evangelistic religion - ie, it is part of our faith to tell others about it. That does not mean that you will be pushed into anything, or have it forced on you. But remember for the people running the course, and for most christians, our faith is the central pillar of our lives, and the most beautiful thing in the world. So that is why they want to discuss it with you - because it means so much to the. Hopefully they will follw Jesus' example and do it in a loving and sensitive, non-pushy way, and give you space to make up your own mind.

My father, a Christian and long-time church member, sometime warden and fundraiser, described the structure of the course as following basic brainwashing techniques, worthy of North Korea. This surprised me. I know nothing about it but had thought it was a basic adult education course.

Feeding you to ingratiate and inculate a sense of reciprocal obligation was part of this I think. I can't explain further as it was not my opinion (and I'm not so familiar with classic brainwashing techniques!).

Gosh Lottie, that is quite a damning report!
at you not being brainwashing expert.
There certainly are churches / christians who would do that I guess, but when I went on the course I felt like it was ok in terms of structure. I did not like all the attitudes of the poeple running it, but the course iself (meal / video / discussion) seemed alright. Its not really like a normal adult ed class because the idea is that you make friends with poeple and discuss stuff, not just sit and listen iyswim. I think it does ask soe quite personal questions not that you have to answer them - but the focus is on what YOU think, YOUR experience of God / faith etc, not general theoretical questions about whether god exists.

I don't really think it qualifies as brainwashing. It runs to a fixed timetable, not like a timeshare sales pitch or something, you don't have to come back next week if you don't like it.

The comment was on the structure (which I'd thought, and this is supported by what's been said here, is common to every alpha class) not the local implementation.

Drawing upon the same psychological techniques and actually being brainwashing are not the same thing. (It might amuse me, as a result of this comment, to imagine church halls full of people being lectured relentlessly under bright lights at 2am but I don't suppose that was the point being made). It would be interesting to see how the course structure was derived and what techniques it drew upon, just as looking at the psychological basis for advertising is fascinating. Both are about persuasion and seeking to change behaviour.

My father comes from an academic and a rather high church background. On both counts there may have been an element of snobbery behind his comment and he may have felt the course content wasn't strong. I suspect, speculating a bit here, that the concern was that the structure is effective in drawing people in but the content variable, so people can be misled and made to feel very secure in some rather outlandish views.

I went on an Alpha course as a very unsure, questioning but open minded individual. I am by baptism a Christian but not a regularly practicing one. I am spiritually open to God and the possibility of reaching him through the church's teachings.

I enjoyed the company of many of the people on my course and the fact that we had the opportunity to discuss many of our uncertainties, concerns and spiritual feelings with each other. However I found it difficult to reconcile the open discussions with the rather directed requests for us to prayer. I was (am) at the stage whereby I wanted to explore whether I actually wanted to prayer at all, what it meant and what it was all about. It seemed difficult to engage in an activity which I wasn't sure about. Sadly it didn't help me, I felt it was taking for granted the fact that I wanted to join the church rather than allowing me to decide whether or not to start the journey.
I think a lot depends perhaps on the sensitivities of the people leading the course, but also on where you are on your own spiritual journey. I suppose answer is to try it, it may provide answers and reassurance, it may not.

There is a more theologically liberal, questioning course, called 'Living the questions'.

As many above had said, it varies vastly by church. I would say look at the church first, and go to a service to see how you find that before starting an Alpha course at a specific church. I have seen one course where the people running it had some non-biblical theology, and were very intense. In contrast the Alpha course at a different church was much more relaxed, the knowledge of the people running it was much more sound (IMO) and they were friendly and helpful with no pressure. This ended up being the church we continued to go to while we were living there.

Hope you find one that you enjoy.