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Dining out on evangelism:

By Bob Harvey
Printed in The Ottawa Citizen on Saturday, October 26, 1996

Ottawa-area churches have found a new way of spreading their message: evangelism by wining and dining. More than 20 churches in the Ottawa Valley are running Alpha courses, a 10-week introduction to Christianity.

Each session begins with dinner and, usually, wine, progresses through a short and humorous video and then winds up with anything-goes discussion groups.

Alpha is the Western world's hottest new approach to Christian evangelism.

In just three years, more than 250,000 people around the world have taken the Alpha courses, and that number is expected to double in the next year.

A lot of people used to think that evangelism was shoving something down people's throats. But when that happens, the Christian goes away thinking he's done a good deed, while the victim is left to try and recover from the experience.
— Rev. Rick Hill

In Ottawa alone, two Christian bookstores have sold at least 1,100 course manuals during the past year.

What's the appeal? Sue and Jodie Marc Lalonde say Alpha changed their lives. They grew up Christians, but fell away from the church until they got married. Then they took an Alpha course in April at St. George's Anglican Church in Ottawa.

Sue, a bartender, says Alpha, gives you a lot of joy. It makes you think, 'I can do this. I can reach out to other people, I can live my life according to the way it's taught in the Bible.'

We were Christians. Now we live as Christians, says Jodie, a meeting planner who runs his own business making canoe paddles.

The Rev. Archie Hunter of St. John the Divine Anglican Church in Nepean is offering his fifth Alpha course, and says Alpha is the best community outreach method he's ever seen.

We've tried door-knocking, putting brochures in people's mailboxes, all with minimal results. This works, Hunter says.

Alpha depends on church members inviting their friends, and Hunter says the dinner that begins each night's session is a key part of the course. Eating together builds relationships and helps break down some of the negative stereotypes about inflexible Christians and joyless Christianity.

We do it up well and have wine. That impresses folks, that even the church can do things well. People don't have that impression of us, says Hunter, the Eastern Ontario co-ordinator for Alpha.

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, an allusion to Christ as the beginning of all things. But it's also an acronym that describes the intent of the course: A for anyone who's interested in finding out more about the Christian faith; L for learning and laughter; P for pasta, sharing a meal together; H for helping one another; A for ask any questions you like.

The Alpha courses began at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church in London, England, and have spread to 50 countries.

Its main creator is Nickey Gumbel, a former lawyer and atheist who became an Anglican priest after conversion to Christianity. Gumbel writes that he created Alpha to be skeptic-friendly, a setting where no question is too simple or too hostile, and where searchers are neither threatened nor judged. He himself once mocked and jeered Christianity, he says in the course's introductory video.

Rev. Rick Hill, pastor of the Valley Christian Alliance Church in Smiths Falls, is halfway through his first Alpha course. He says that, unlike much Christian evangelism of the past, Alpha respects people who want to take a look at Christianity without necessarily making a commitment.

A lot of people used to think that evangelism was shoving something down people's throats. But when that happens, the Christian goes away thinking he's done a good deed, while the victim is left to try and recover from the experience.

No one knows how many Canadian churches are running Alpha courses because the numbers are expanding so fast. So far, most are Anglican, but Alpha is beginning to spread into Presbyterian, Baptist, Salvation Army, Catholic, evangelical, non-denominational and other churches. Representatives from 25 denominations attended an Alpha conference in Toronto last summer.

One of the reasons for Alpha's sudden popularity is that the old approaches to spreading the Christian faith no longer work, says Michael Knowles, assistant director of the Institute of Evangelism at Toronto's Wycliffe College.

Knowles says evangelism crusades don't draw crowds any more, except when they're put on by the few big names, such as Billy Graham.

Other methods of evangelism -- arm-twisting, street corner preaching, door-to-door campaigns -- never did work well in Canada, he says. Canadians don't like talking about personal things with strangers.

Canada's churches are looking for anything that will persuade Canadians to take a second look at Christianity. Since the 1950s, the numbers attending church have dropped from six in 10 Canadians to about two in 10.

Yet Knowles says there's a great opportunity for Christian churches in what is often called the postmodern era. We've lost faith in the myth of progress, and become skeptical of institutions and doctrinaire versions of truth, yet more and more of us are taking a second look at spirituality and hungering for spiritual experience.

Alpha is growing, says Knowles, because it's designed for this postmodern era. It includes the heart -- an experience of God that comes toward the end of the course in a day-long session on the Holy Spirit. It also caters to reason with Gumbel's slick videotaped explanations of the claims of Christianity.

Does Alpha produce converts? Most churches that put on Alpha courses claim they attract new members, or at least bring fringe members into regular attendance. But no one's collecting statistics.

Besides, Knowles says, the Christian church's understanding of evangelism and conversions is shifting.

Traditionally, conversion was understood as almost an entry rite to community. Now we understand it more as something that takes place over a longer term in the life of the community. It's more like having joined our community, you discover if you want to follow along.

And Alpha does offer community, particularly in mainline churches that have not had the small groups that contribute to the growth of evangelical churches. Even for long-time church members, the Alpha course not only re-charges spiritual batteries, but also deepens relationships.

Patricia Brewer, a member of Christ Church Anglican in Bells Corners, recently told an introductory Alpha session there that she had shunned small groups after a bad experience years ago at a Los Angeles church.

But in Alpha, I found love from those attending. I found Christian renewal and enrichment.

Alpha courses

Cost: Alpha courses are free. However, course manuals cost $4 each, and most churches ask for a small donation towards the cost of the meals.

Where: Congregations currently running Alpha courses include: St. George's, St. Stephen's, and St. Thomas the Apostle in Ottawa; St John the Divine, and Christ Church, in Nepean; St. Paul's, Kanata; St. Helen's, and New Wine in Orleans; St. Paul's Anglican and Almonte Presbyterian, in Almonte; St. James, Perth; Emmanuel Anglican, in Arnprior; Valley Christian Alliance Church, in Smiths Falls; the Anglican parish of Beachburg-Cobden; Emmanuel Anglican in Arnprior; the Anglican parish in Fitzroy Harbour; Holy Trinity in North Gower; the Anglican parish in Winchester-Chesterville-Crysler-South Mountain; and the Anglican parish in Edwardsburg. The Anglican, Catholic and United Churches in Russell are also running a joint Alpha course.

However, those interested might want to check with their local church, because this may be only a partial list and many other congregations are planning Alpha courses for January.

— Bob Harvey,
Religion Editor
Ottawa Citizen

Reprinted with permission. Publication of this material does not necessarily imply support of the Alpha course.

Churches invite Canadians to dinner and discussion by Bob Harvey, Ottawa Citizen, 26 July 2003

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