Alpha Course

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I appreciate everyone`s responses. I looked into it a bit more and decided it is not for me. I think right now I would benefit more from a Catholic Bible study so will see if I can find one.

Thank you again for your responses!!

Sincerely,
Maria1212
 
the ALHA course is designed for unchurched persons who have never heard the Gospel, have no idea or the vaguest idea who Jesus Christ is, and have been unexposed to basic Christian Doctrine. As such it is appropriate for any Christian church to use for initial evangelization, what Catholics would call the pre-catechumenate, the stage before RCIA. There is ALPHA for Catholics which concludes with a program that introduces what is specifically unique to Catholicism, and invites participants to either formally join RCIA or take another course in Catholic doctrine, sacraments etc.
 
puzzleannie said:
the ALHA course is designed for unchurched persons who have never heard the Gospel, have no idea or the vaguest idea who Jesus Christ is, and have been unexposed to basic Christian Doctrine. As such it is appropriate for any Christian church to use for initial evangelization, what Catholics would call the pre-catechumenate, the stage before RCIA. There is ALPHA for Catholics which concludes with a program that introduces what is specifically unique to Catholicism, and invites participants to either formally join RCIA or take another course in Catholic doctrine, sacraments etc.
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Its also pretty good for lapsed Catholics as well.
 
I heard a radio ad this moring advertising group meetings in my area for Alpha. Anyone know what this is? A quick google search didn’t turn up anything productive for me. The ad said Alpha has helped over 8 million people answer the difficult questions in life. I couldn’t decide if this was some type of religious group or a cult? The ad didn’t identify affiliation with any church, etc. Just curious. Thanks
 
Could they mean an “Alpha-Course”? In Germany, there are basic protestant catechetic-classes (non-denominational - right word?), but I do not know, of course, if the radio program referred to the same Alpha.
 
CLMargaret said:
I heard a radio ad this moring advertising group meetings in my area for Alpha. Anyone know what this is? A quick google search didn’t turn up anything productive for me. The ad said Alpha has helped over 8 million people answer the difficult questions in life. I couldn’t decide if this was some type of religious group or a cult? The ad didn’t identify affiliation with any church, etc. Just curious. Thanks
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My sister-in-law’s (Anglican) church ran an Alpha program a few years ago. It seems like a basic Christianity course, and I believe they’ve even adapted it for use in Catholic churches. You’d have to look into the particular church that’s offering it to find out whether it would be compatible with Catholic teaching.
 
I kept waiting for the ad to identify what church was sponsoring the program, but it never did. That’s what got me wondering. It could be a basic Christianity course. There just wasn’t enough information to determine if it was more than that.
 
CLMargaret said:
I kept waiting for the ad to identify what church was sponsoring the program, but it never did. That’s what got me wondering. It could be a basic Christianity course. There just wasn’t enough information to determine if it was more than that.
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Howdy Margaret!
Here is a link to a parish in town that has experienced great sucess with its ALPHA course. Hope it helps answer some of your questions. 🙂

mpbchurch.org/alpha.htm

Jesus I Trust in You. Jesus I Trust in You. Jesus I Trust in You.
 
Are you familiar with the Alpha course and if so, is it something Catholics should become involved in?
 
If you are looking for a beginner’s class in Christianity for Catholics, look no further than your parish’s RCIA Catechesis program.

The Alpha course is a Christian beginner basics class that purports to present “mere Christianity” in a way that is acceptable to all denominations. (Personally, I doubt that this is even possible.)
 
Here’s an evaluation:
One of the fastest growing evangelization programs in Evangelical and Charismatic Protestant circles these days is the “Alpha Course,” developed over 20 years ago at a charismatic Anglican parish in London, Holy Trinity Brompton, and currently directed by Nicky Gumbel. It has been promoted to Catholics in the United States for six years by ChristLife Catholic Evangelization Services in Baltimore, which claims that “hundreds of Catholic parishes” are now using it. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process and content of the “Alpha Course”, and to evaluate whether “Alpha”, either in its original form or in the “Alpha for Catholics” model, should be recommended to Catholic parishes looking for evangelization tools.
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The Alpha Course—an Evaluation
 
Another resource on the Alpha Course, from the Australian Marian Academy of the Immaculate Conception:

ALPHA UNSCRAMBLED

AMAIC has a number of very good analyses of modernist problems on this site.
 
Every Catholic that I know that has taken the Alpha Course is now not in line with church teaching. Take that for what it’s worth.
 
Seatuck said:
Every Catholic that I know that has taken the Alpha Course is now not in line with church teaching. Take that for what it’s worth.
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I believe it.

Everyone I know either dropped out of the program early because they couldn’t stand to hear all of the misinformation, or ended up joining the Centre Street Church (an evangelical organization associated with the Baptists) and leaving the Catholic Church because they were taught in Alpha that the Catholic Church “adds on” to the essential Gospel message (because when presenting the Alpha course, Catholic Churches have to use a package that says right on the box, “Catholic Add-Ons”). :rolleyes:
 
My catholic church has started the Alpha course and I thought it was going to be a group setting for learning more about the faith.

I wasn’t able to attend the first session but thought I might attend later but now I think I’ll pass.
 
kage_ar said:
An alernative would be “Why Catholic” 👍
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Not to hijack the thread, but could someone explain briefly what is “Why Catholic?”

Alpha Course is the trend in the parishes in Singapore. So far, I’ve not attended any session because of what I read here. But probably I’ll do a visit in near future just to know about it more.
 
I asked a friend about Alpha course and it’s his reply.
In most parishes that I know of, Alpha is used as a way of introducing non-Christians to the Christian faith, and if they are interested in finding out more afterwards, they are invited to join RCIA.
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Some places use “CaFE”, which stands for Catholic Faith Exploration, as a post-Alpha programme, which allows the non-Christian to learn more about the Catholic faith. For more info on CaFE: catholicevangel.org/
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I think Alpha is a wonderful introduction to Christianity.
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In your parish, is Alpha course targeted to non-christian or to catholic?
 
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