Alpha course

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The Alpha course (in Switzerland Alphalive ) is a course on the basics of the Christian faith . It was originally developed in the 1970s at Holy Trinity Brompton Church , an Anglican parish in London .

structure

The Alpha course consists of a series of 10 evenings and often a weekend together. The evenings start with a joint dinner followed by a lecture. After the lecture, small groups offer the opportunity to discuss the topic of the lecture.

The lecture topics cover fundamental topics of the Christian faith:

Nicky Gumbel

Alpha courses are offered free of charge to visitors and are aimed at several groups of people:

  • People with little or no previous knowledge of the Christian faith, who are interested in it or want to get non-binding information.
  • People who have only recently become Christians and want to deal with the core statements of the Christian faith in a structured manner.
  • Parishioners who want to refresh their basic knowledge.

Nicky Gumbel also published the lectures as a book (see literature ). They are available as video films, but a presentation by a local speaker is recommended. He often also presents his own texts on the topic. The national associations also offer organizers training courses on organization and group management.

history

The Alpha course has its origins in Holy Trinity Brompton Church, an Anglican parish in London . In 1977, Charles Marnham, a pastor of the ward, developed the Alpha Course as a way for new Christians to learn the basics of the Christian faith. In 1990 Nicky Gumbel took over the leadership of the Alpha course. Under his leadership, the Alpha Course concept expanded beyond the boundaries of Holy Trinity Brompton Church. In 1996 the concept was brought to Germany through the spiritual renewal of the Evangelical Church (GGE).

Churches of numerous denominations currently offer over 30,000 alpha courses in 152 countries . There are separate versions of the Alpha course for specific demographic groups, such as youth alpha - alpha for teenagers , alpha for students, alpha in prison or alpha in the workplace. It is estimated that over 7 million people worldwide have taken an Alpha course to date.

The Alpha course is widespread in the various Protestant free churches . Thus, the Alpha Course is a basic belief course used in many different Christian denominations. In Germany, the Alpha course is offered in over 1,200 municipalities (as of October 2006).

Alexander Graf zu Castell-Castell has been the managing director of the non-profit sponsoring association "Alpha Deutschland" since June 2012.

In Switzerland, the name Alphalive was chosen because Alpha-Kurs is used as a brand name by a company.

In Austria, alpha courses are also promoted by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna , among others .

criticism

The Alpha course has been criticized from various quarters:

Strictly pietistic circles take offense at the treatment of the Holy Spirit, which also includes the gifts of the Spirit , and therefore classify the Alpha Course as (too) charismatic .

The Reformed Church of the Canton of Zurich , for which the Alpha course is clearly too evangelical , has published its own faith course, Faith12 , a regional church reformed introduction to the Christian faith. On this side, the course is accused of pre-Enlightenment thinking and dualistic worldview.

literature

  • Nicky Gumbel: Questions of Life. German title questions to life. Gerth Medien , Asslar 1999, ISBN 3-89490-282-5 , Nicky Gumbel's lectures are published in this book.
  • Patented departure. In: New City. 2, 2006, ISSN  0344-7022 , pp. 28–30 (apparently out of print)
  • Patrick Tschui: The Alpha Wave - How Biblical is the Alpha Course? Paperback (out of print, available as (PDF; 172 kB) ), conservative, pietistic or evangelical.
  • Jan Voerman: The hidden agenda - What Alpha, Willow Creek and Rick Warren are hiding. BASISTA Media, Mundelsheim 2012, ISBN 978-3-943475-05-0

See also

Web links

Alpha Course Pages:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The history of the GGE , gge-deutschland.de, accessed on December 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ On the course of faith! , idea.de, article from December 6, 2012.
  3. ↑ https://www.erzdioezese-wien.at/pages/inst/25473874/missionfirst/meinengagement/alphakurs Alpha course invitation