As many of you know, we have been running some courses over the past year with some wonderful outcomes of success and enjoyment. One of these courses was the Alpha Course. Six of us have completed the course this summer from across the Funtington, West Stoke and Sennicotts parish churches and we all loved it so much that we’d love to run it again with an open invitation to all.
What is Alpha?
ALPHA is a 6-week course designed to explore the Christian faith with others. It’s a series of videos and conversations focused on the questions of life, faith and meaning. It has a priority to create a non-judgemental and open environment where it’s easy for anyone to explore questions of life with others. No one is obliged to finish the course if you decide it’s not for you.
The Alpha course has been developed over many years from its inception in 1977 and there are now over 55,000 courses run worldwide with Alpha keenly supported by all the major Christian denominations.
Who is ALPHA for?
Alpha really is for everyone. Some examples could be:
- Those who never go to church but want to know why anyone would want to
- Those who grew up with faith but have become disillusioned
- Those who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics and sceptics
- Those who have been coming to church for years
- Those who want to deepen their faith and find out more
You do not need to be affiliated with any church to come on this course – all are welcome. No question is too basic or too clever!
What is the ALPHA format?
Alpha traditionally involves having a meal together. We are planning to start with lunch followed by a short time of worship, a video from the Alpha series and a time of discussion in small groups. The lunch and the course are FREE.
What is the course time and place?
We will meet in the Funtington Church Room starting on Wednesday 22nd January at 12:30pm for lunch, finishing around 2:30pm. The course will continue for 6 weeks.
How do I get involved?
Please contact Neil Watt (wattnwatt@gmail.com) or Eloise Rank (Eloise@sennicotts.com) for more details or to register your interest. Everyone is warmly invited and there is no charge. Keep your eye out for more details and promotional material on the notice sheets and this church website.
Alpha Testimony
"I was 18 and new to London when a friend of mine invited me on an Alpha Course. I was an art student at Wimbledon School of Art and I was up for anything.
My family would go to church at Christmas and Easter. The schools that I attended throughout my childhood all had assemblies most mornings including a 2 mile walk to church whilst wearing capes and hats! However, I don’t think any of it meant much to me personally. God was kept to Sundays and Church was a place you behaved and made sure you did everything correctly.
Smiling, friendly and quite exciting is how I would describe my first evening at Alpha.
The videos were informative and fun. They were interesting and inspired good discussions in areas I had not even thought of. The environment was non-judgemental and after a few weeks our group became friends. I began to really look forward to each week and talking about faith became interesting and exciting and I am so grateful that my faith is now the bedrock of my life. It was like seeing in colour after living in black and white. It all began to make sense.
30 years on, I am so grateful that I did Alpha. I really cannot recommend it highly enough!"
Eloise Rank