8 August 2001

An Open Letter to Ottawa Area Pastors and Lay Leaders

Dear Christian Colleague in Ministry,

Are you looking for a more effective way to reach the spiritually hungry with a sound gospel? Do you long to find an unthreatening way of enabling non-churchgoers to discover the life-changing power of Jesus Christ? Many hundreds of pastors and lay people across Canada are finding the Alpha Course to be a relevant way of making Christianity accessible to men and women of today's culture.

Three Canadian pastors who were the subject of a video on church growth 1 agreed that they had seen "more people come to faith in the three years since using Alpha than in all our previous years of ministry up to that point."

The ten-week course, built around a meal and small groups discussion, focuses on the basics of the Christian faith and is being used in churches of all backgrounds. It is a flexible model, which adapts well to various settings (homes, churches, prisons, schools, workplaces) and size of group (from 10 to 1000.) Course leaders everywhere have been amazed at its success and literally thousands are being reached with the message of Christ in 1500 courses in Canada and 17,000 courses in 123 countries around the world.

In a recent independent study conducted in the Presbyterian Church in the US, 90% of churches said they would recommend Alpha to other congregations and 97% were planning to continue running the course. In a UK study, amid a backdrop of declining church numbers, those churches running Alpha were seen to be bucking the downhill trend.

NEW SEEKER SENSITIVE WEBSITE
A completely redesigned Canadian website at www.alphacanada.org which was launched in June enables enquirers to investigate the course without setting foot outside their homes! The new site directs enquirers through a series of "first order" questions to a video clip of the first Alpha evening. The site then allows them to access and register for a course near their home from one of the 1500 courses running in churches of all types right across the country.

Other sections of the website include testimonies of lives changed, a complete resource section for leaders which lists the available support resources as well as catering and worship ideas, on line courses registration and sections on how Alpha can be used in prisons, on campus and in a variety of other settings.

COMMUNITIES WORKING TOGETHER TO PROMOTE ALPHA COURSES
In many communities across Canada, churches are working together to advertise and promote Alpha with great success. In Barrie, Ontario, where there are 500,000 people within a 30-mile radius of the city, a cooperative effort by the churches and the city will result in a citywide Alpha promotion in September with Alpha banners hanging across the main street! In Petawawa and in Russell, churches from several denominations cooperate to present Alpha very successfully, and Alpha leaders from these communities will share their experience at a seminar at the Ottawa conference.

Learn more about the Alpha course and be a part of spreading the Gospel in your area by taking part in an informative two-day conference to be held in Ottawa at Dominion-Chalmers United Church Friday/Saturday October 26-27, 2001. Conference speakers will explain the vision behind Alpha and give practical training in running your own Alpha course. If you are currently involved in Alpha, or curious to know whether you should be, we strongly recommend coming to this conference. There will be special seminars including Alpha for Catholics, prison Alpha, and youth Alpha. Information (including a conference Application form) is available at www.ncf.ca/alpha/alphaconf.html. For more details or to receive a free introductory pack contact: Alpha Ministries Canada, Box 153, 3456 Dunbar Street, Vancouver, BC V62 2C2.
Phone: 1 800 263 2664    E-mail: office@alphacanada.org
Website: www.alphacanada.org

Your friend in Christ,

Eric Angel Ottawa Alpha Conference Chair 2025-57 Foster St. Perth, ON. K7H 1R9

E-mail: tedebear@superaje.com Tel: 613-273-7271

1  "Keys to Church Growth," Published by Norlynn Audio Visual Services, Box 86548, N.Vancouver, BC, available on short-term loan from your local Alpha Advisors' resources.