Anyone done the Alpha course, can you tell me a bit about it please?

[zulubump]

I've never been a churchgoer and none of my family have, but I've always felt a bit of a spiritual "hole" in my life. The idea of going to church always seemed a bit scary, though. Dh's family are regular church goers but he stopped a few years ago and is not at all keen! Then I had dd who is now 18 months. I've recently started taking her to a Sunday service at a local methodist church. My reasons being that I'd like to give her a chance to see whether Christianity is right for her and also taking her along gives me an excuse to go and see whether it is right for me.

However, attending the services has thrown up all sorts of questions in my mind about Christianity. There are bits I don't understand or aren't comfortable with or even totally disagree with. When dd is older I want to be able to discuss things openly with her so I feel I should try and get some of these things straight in my head. Is the Alpha course somewhere where I could feel safe asking questions like "what's so wrong with being gay?" or "I don't think I believe in the devil" etc?

Dizietsma - I haven't read that book or the article. (I've tried a search and can't find more info on the article... do you have a link?) I would make the point to Nicky Gumbel that LIFE involves shameful lusts; lust is not an exclusively (or primarily) gay failing, its a human failing!
However, please remember that the way individual Anglicans view the matter of homosexuality depends on a few different factors, most importantly which branch of the Church they are; evangelical, anglo-catholic or liberal (though some are a mixture.) I happen to currently attend a fairly evangelical Anglican church (mainly because the children's work is excellent and they are very outward looking towards the community) but we have many openly gay people in the congregation, so not even all evangelical Anglican churches are homophobic.

Hey hedgie, link to article

Here's a good annotated analysis of Alpha course homophobia, so you can check the facts for yourself.

"we have many openly gay people in the congregation"

I understand what you're saying here, but I'm afraid that actually doesn't mean there's no homophobia in your church. Believe it or not, gay people are just as capable of homophobia as straight people. In much the same way that women can be misogynists. Think about it, I'll bet you have met some female misogynists.

In my experience the very worst homophobes are LGBTQ people who have yet to come out to themselves. Repression'll do that to a person. Not saying that's the case for the gay people in your congregation, they may very well be perfectly at peace with their sexuality, but I am saying that it's possible your church could be supporting a homophobic course and have gay parishoners.

Quite apart from anything else, I'm pretty sure that most of the gay people at your church have no idea about the homophobic content of Alpha course, you clearly didn't, and would be horrified to read about it.

I used to know a Catholic lesbian who was campaigning for the right to be a priest. Can't exactly call the Catholics friends of the LGBTQ community, now can you? Like many religious people, she ignored what she didn't like and took what worked for her.

I know Alpha course is meant to be a fluffy and modern intro into Christianity, and I know it's been very sucessful at putting bums on pews, but I really object to the homophobia.

It's not mild, not just an extension of "no sex outwith marriage" (which is a bit of a pisser if you're gay cos the church wont marry you, so no sex then!), it implies that lesbians are gay because they were abused (if that's all it takes then why aren't there a lot more lesbians?), it also trots out the old (proven to be false) chestnut that homosexuality is the result of reversed parental gender roles, and all manner of other offensive bull.

"it won't be presented as a core part of the Alpha course."

It's from this book

You'll see the cover has the Alpha logo on it. My MIL got it from her Alpha course. I'd say that makes it part of the course.

"I'm surprised, then, that so many I know have been happy to work with it. Perhaps they've not read all the material associated with it."

I suspect that is exactly what has happened.

I'm really surprised so many didn't know about it, tbh. Alpha comes from the evangelical charismatic wing of the Anglican church, which is going to have traditional evangelical charismatic views on homosexuality.

The main course text for Alpha is called Questions of Life.

Searching Issues is a book about the seven most common objections to the Christian faith (why does God allow suffering, what about other religions, etc).

"I think it may MORE be that they are aware, but are cutting and pasting the bits that they like."

I do understand that, but I still have an issue with its use because people will start with the more fluffy bits, and then when they go to the further reading section they'll be introduced to this offensive homophobic twaddle. It's like homophobia 101, it sickens me.

"The main course text for Alpha is called Questions of Life.

Searching Issues is a book about the seven most common objections to the Christian faith (why does God allow suffering, what about other religions, etc)."

You can equivocate and parse as much as you like, but the fact is that Searching Issues is an Alpha course book.

Searching Issues is not a core Alpha text - it is published by Alpha, but it is a book for those who want to know more about the Christian faith and have particular obstacles to moving forward.

Each chapter in the book addresses the question at hand basically by giving the biblical references to that topic. It does not provide a one stop answer or view to each of these issues - it is very much up to the reader to decide how they feel about them. For some people, they will be satisfied with the presentation; for others, it will lead to more questions.

For many people, Alpha is their first step into the Christian faith - it is not meant to be the last. It is just the beginning of an amazing journey - but it is not meant to be the only course a Christian will go on, or the only groups they will be involved in.

As I said before, my cousin is a Vicar at a liberal anglo-catholic church, and also happens to be (openly) gay, and runs Alpha courses. He's obviously very well read and sensitive to these issues, but I think may view it like justabout says, that they agree with the course in general, so will ignore the human errors that slip in. I'll check though. That book is sold under Alpha label but isn't the Alpha book which you get free and covers course content - that doesn't mention homosexuality.

dizietsma - I totally understand your point that I cannot claim that people in my church are not homophobic (or indeed mysogynist, racist or anything else judgmental and horrible.) But DH and I discussed this with church leadership as we both have gay family members, and found their opinions progressive and inclusive. This spirit has permeated much of the body of the church. Helps that its a very young congregation.

Having suffered from "church abuse" as a teenager, at a very judgmental place, which took me years to heal from, I am very sensitive to church life not being judgmental and fractious. My favourite thing about the Anglican church is how many different opinions and ways of worshipping there are within it; I really hope it doesn't split

No more than CS Lewis books, Corrie Ten Boom etc.

"For many people, Alpha is their first step into the Christian faith - it is not meant to be the last. It is just the beginning of an amazing journey - but it is not meant to be the only course a Christian will go on, or the only groups they will be involved in."

If it's their first step and they are continuing their journey it is very likely they'll get the further reading books. I'm sorry, but you're making excuses.

"But DH and I discussed this with church leadership as we both have gay family members, and found their opinions progressive and inclusive. This spirit has permeated much of the body of the church."

I'm so very pleased to hear that! If only all churches were like yours, I'd have less antagonism towards Christianity.

I'm not making excuses at all, diz. I just talk from experience as someone who has been involved in over 10 Alpha courses. This trumps paranoid views from those who have no direct experience, I think.

Alpha is a pre-catechetical course and is run by a wide range of Christian denominations. It only 'teaches' about the faith of the original and undivided church - basically the bits that we all agree on. It does not attempt to teach on controversial issues at all. It simply doesn't, not matter how much you would like it to in order to preserve your paradigm.

When someone finishes the Alpha course, they are highly encouraged to do some kind of adult formation in their own churches - whether these are evangelical, liberal, or catholic. What happens then has nothing to do with the organisers of Alpha.

Alpha isn't for everyone, but no one can deny that it has transformed modern Christianity in the UK and abroad. And that is the reason why people outside of the church don't like it and do nothing but pick holes in it.

"And that is the reason why people outside of the church don't like it and do nothing but pick holes in it."

And here is the crux. You think I'm out to "pick holes in it". Who's paranoid now? Truth is, I came across a book on a coffee table and was seriously offended by the content. That's it. I'm an agnostic, I'm no hard-line atheist out to destroy all religions.

Something that really bugs me is the double standards for what is acceptable prejudice and what isn't. LGBTQ objections to homo/bi/trans/queerphobia are always treated as if they are slightly hysterical, but if Alpha course had logoed "further reading" books that supported racism, would that be OK? Of course it wouldn't. I very much doubt any of you would be supporting them if any logoed books talked about all Asians as "Asian offenders" and drew parallels between being black and being a paedophile.

Is it because some people think sexuality is a choice? Is that why it's OK to make nasty generalisations about it, but not about people of different ethnicities?

Well, I presume it's because Homosexual activity=sinful is still a part of much mainstream Christian denominational belief.

"My confessor is a man who is so sexist he doesn't believe in my right as a woman to be ordained. I manage to take confessional counsel from him, laying aside our differences. If I can do that when he is discriminating against ME, then I think it is OK that I do it on other issues as well."

Hm, well, I would have a problem with that.

I suppose I'm just not willing to compromise on what I feel are important issues. Contributing my money, time and efforts to an institution that condones prejudice, directly or indirectly, is a step too far for me. I've always been a hard-liner on these things.

Although, I don't believe in Jesus, so I suppose that makes my choices easier. If I did I'd probably be a Quaker or Unitarian though.

Thanks for the discussion JustAboutSpring, I'm glad there are people like you out there.

I would like to support dizietsma (sorry if spelt wrong am using my phone to mn).

Everything I have heard or read about Alpha supports the idea that they do have a homophobic agenda. As they are evangelical christians, it doesnt surprise me at all.

You are so right about objections to homophobia being met by accusations of hysteria or over reacting.