“Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

Each week, deacons around the world dismiss congregations with these or other similar words. “But how many of us actually know what they mean or how to do that?” asked Jeff Carver, who serves as co-coordinator of Alpha with his wife, Susan, at St. Andrew’s, Fort Pierce. “At St. Andrew’s, people are excited to answer the call to be disciples.”

Alpha participants at St. Andrew’s, Fort Pierce | Photo Credit: The Rev. Canon Ellis Brust

The parish recently finished its first Alpha course, a ministry that began in England in 1977. Over the years it has been revamped and reimagined, but the heart of Alpha has never changed. The course was created to provide people a space to ask the big questions of life and to outline the core principles of the Christian faith. Several other churches in the Diocese of Central Florida, including All Saints, Winter Park; the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando; Christ Church, Suntree-Viera; Grace, Ocala; Holy Trinity, Melbourne; St. David’s by-the-Sea, Cocoa Beach; and St. Mary’s, Belleview, are offering Alpha and Alpha Youth Series and seeing lives change as a result.

Hunger for God

Attendance for Alpha at St. Andrew’s varied throughout the 12-week series from 55 to over 70 people, including six students aged 12-18 who participated in Youth Alpha. “We didn’t do major publicity or a full-blown social media campaign. Our numbers came from personal invitations from the team,” Carver explained. The church used the updated Alpha Film Series, which is described on the Alpha USA website:

The Alpha Film Series is designed for today’s audience. It was filmed all around the world, and features interviews with world-famous leaders and inspiring stories. Two hosts, Toby Flint and Gemma Hunt, join Nicky Gumbel to unpack the basics of the Christian faith in an updated and engaging way.

While the parish truly enjoyed the Alpha videos, participants believe the small-group conversations are the star of the course. “The Alpha questions are a great starting point, but the magic really happens when the conversations take on a life of their own,” Carver said. “Actually, some of our most profound conversations took place during the cleanup each week. People were fired up.”

Alpha returns to Grace, Ocala | Photo Credit: The Rev. Frans van Santen

When The Rev. Frans van Santen brought Alpha back to Grace, Ocala, where he serves as associate rector, the response was initially underwhelming. “Grace did Alpha about 25 years ago, but to most of our current members, it was new, so why would people want to try it?” he joked. “Our first group was six people and three dropped out, but the three that remained were transformed. They gave their testimonies in church, and our next Alpha session had over 25 people.

“As we now finish our fourth course, I’d say that our church is experiencing spiritual renewal because of it,” said van Santen. “There is an expectation – a hunger even – for God when we meet on Sunday mornings.” Grace Church now plans to offer two Alpha courses a year.

Christ Church Suntree-Viera, formerly Hope Episcopal, had not done Alpha in over a decade. With the release of the updated Alpha videos and after being inspired by the results at Grace, Ocala, The Rev. Cynthia Brust, rector, decided to renew the church’s Alpha course.

Alpha participants at Christ Episcopal Church watch the first video of their six-week course. | Photo Credit: The Rev. Cynthia Brust

“We had over 20 people participate in our recent six-week Alpha course,” she said. “Four of the participants were unchurched and one a self-proclaimed agnostic. The response was incredible, and people were blown away by the quality of the videos.

“The reason Alpha is so effective is that it simultaneously serves as a discipleship tool for Christians and an evangelism tool for the unchurched and dechurched,” Brust explained.

Christ Church plans to begin Youth Alpha next fall with a simultaneous adult course, and former participants are looking forward to serving on the team. “The participants did not want it to end,” Brust said. “They are all excited to do a full series soon.”

Conversations About Faith

The Very Rev. Porter Taylor, rector of St. David’s by-the-Sea, Cocoa Beach, ran an abbreviated six-week session to introduce 35 members to Alpha in hopes that they would sign up to be on a team for future courses. “For two years, I have heard the ache of our members who have children or siblings who have walked away from their faith,” he said. “They ask me regularly, ‘How can I talk to my adult children about Jesus again?’ so I wanted them to go through Alpha to practice discussing matters of faith.

“I believe the hardest evangelism is family evangelism, and Alpha gave our members tools to use, but more importantly, their own faith was revived,” Taylor added.

The Rev. Lo Cook explained that All Saints, Winter Park, where she serves as associate rector of Christian formation and missions, did Alpha two decades ago. The church just relaunched the course with the new videos.

Alpha relaunches at All Saints, Winter Park | Photo Credit: The Rev. Lo Cook

“The great thing about Alpha is that it presents the good news of the gospel in a logical, but not aggressive, way,” she said. “We could have conversations about our faith without people from the community feeling like we were chasing them down, and the response was very exciting.”

Members have approached Cook asking to host a small group Alpha series or to fund another churchwide course. “People caught the vision and want to use Alpha as a way to reach our community,” she said.

Van Santen offered some strong advice for churches considering Alpha. “Do it. Do it. Do it,” he said. “If you want to see dechurched people drawn to Jesus; people surrendering to Jesus; people praising Jesus; churched people’s faith revived; having the honor of giving someone their first Bible; people starting to read their Bible for the first time; people coming to you with serious faith, try Alpha!”