Alpha 2 The Cross

We had the second night proper of the Alpha Course last night.
We began with chat ,tea and the most superb carrot cake (meant to take a photo but I ate it too quickly!)then on to the course . This time the subject was the cross.
Once again Nicky Gumbel's video was a clear and simple exposition of the cross and once again the technology worked well, and everyone seemed to be listening hard.
The groups are just beginning to know each other and certainly in the group I led there was a great deal of conversation, and some pretty profound questions as well; ranging from "what about other religions? " to "the nature of the unforgivable sin" and the whole question of original sin.
It was a good if (for me) rather challenging conversation.

I do think the format of talk,followed by open discussion where you can ask any question works well in our culture in the UK anyway
The course now breaks for half term and then onto session 3

 Looking forward to it!

Alpha week 1

Alpha

On Sunday night we held the first session proper of our new Alpha Course.
This year we are running it with our friends and neighbours at The Abbey and St Peter's which has been fun as it is always good to meet other Christians.

The unusual start time of 6pm on a Sunday meant we are starting with pudding or cake rather than a full blown meal and this obviously suited enough people for us to break into 2 very viable small groups following Nicky Gumbel's talk.

I have run Alpha courses where I (or someone else) have delivered Nicky's talks live, but showing them on dvd is equally effective as long as the technology works fine which, thanks to Paul ,ours did last night.

I have heard these talks probably 20 times or so over the years and have therefore heard the jokes and illustrations that Nicky uses to hold peoples attention many times. After a while they do stop being funny BUT what cannot be denied is that he is a great communicator who gets across the essential facts in a memorable and easy to understand way , that last night provoked plenty of discussion.

However having used Alpha and other courses, in different churches over many years,I am convinced it really is all about relationships and providing a safe space for people to explore the Christian faith for themselves

We finished in good time and I was delighted it was a very promising first session

Alpha

Finished another Alpha course last night
As usual the food was good and the organisation impeccable
We used the shorter dvd version of the talks which worked fine -There was a really good bunch of helpers

What worried me at the start of the course was that the people who came along were very diverse and I worried how it would all go. I needn't have bothered God really answered prayer and yet again we saw him working strongly in peoples lives !It is joy to see and certainly one of the most exciting things about being in ministry!