Back in the Alpha Trenches

We launched our latest Alpha Monday night at Christ the King Edmonton. We had our team of 4 plus 7 prospective guests, plus a couple of visitors who didn't intend to join the course, but came either for the free food  or just to keep someone company.

I figured:

1. the Alberta Regional Director's church should be running Alpha, and
2. the Alberta Regional Director shouldn't necessarily be the one coordinating it.

However, I compromised on the second point to accomplish the first. Our congregation is just a year old, so there was not an overly-large talent pool of experienced, "Alphaholics" from which to pick an actual coordinator, although a couple of wonderful women did step forward as helpers. I invited a friend who was a great Alpha team member a few years back, hoping that he might join our new congregation and become, "the Alpha Guy" next time. (Don't tell him I said that - you'll give away my secret agenda.)

So... at the moment we look to have two small groups, with the possibility that more might arrive next Monday. I have made it known that we are open to receive new guests for another week or so, even if they missed the intro and the first week. Frankly, I have always made it my policy, as an Alpha Coordinator, to discourage new guests from arriving after week 2 (The Why Did Jesus Die? talk). That session is so powerful that I think they will have missed the real core of the message as presented on Alpha. That's not a firm rule, but just my preference.

Having said that, I spoke to one church who ran Alpha for a support group for single mothers. One young mother came to the introductory meal, then was unable to make any more meetings until the celebration meal at the end of the course. She accepted Christ at that second session. God will work in His own way, despite all our planning. "The Lord knows those who are His..." (2 Timothy 2:19)
At any rate, there comes a point on an Alpha course when new people coming in disrupt, to put it bluntly, the dynamics of the small groups and the intimacy that is developing.

Every Alpha is new and every Alpha is different. Every Alpha presents its own challenges and its own surprises, but every Alpha is its own adventure. I'm looking forward to see what God has in store for this one.

Blessings,
John