In the two previous installments of this series on Alpha ministry in the local church, I’ve looked at Alpha as an evangelism tool and as a discipleship tool. Now, let’s consider Alpha as a community-building tool.
Once a church grows beyond “family size,” in which Sunday morning attendance ranges from 3 to 75, it often struggles to maintain a sense of community. A spiritually and emotionally healthy family-size church is a Christian community, with members connected through actual family ties or through long-time associations and the bond of Christ. Essentially, a family-size church is a single-cell organism: it has one small group—a large small group, but a single group nonetheless. The challenge comes when a church begins to grow to the point at which it is no longer possible for members to know everyone. It can no longer function as a single cell. At this stage, the common complaint of long-time members is “I don’t know who these people are.” The complaint of newcomers is “I have been attending this church for a while, but I still don’t feel like I belong.” Because community can no longer be sustained as one group, the answer is to reimagine community as existing in multiple groups.
In the 25 years that my church has been hosting Alpha, the course has fostered dozens of small groups. The bonding that takes place among group members over the 10-week course creates a sense of belonging for the many long-time and new members who take Alpha. Why is this the case?
- Alpha is a totally new church experience for both newcomers and long-time members who take the course. The message of Alpha is not new; it is, in the words of C.S. Lewis, “mere Christianity,” the basics of the Christian faith. But the format of a content-rich 10-week course, gathering in small groups, taking meals together, and experiencing a weekend retreat, is new for most people, and it enables the guests to develop a strong spiritual bond. The separation between newcomers and long-time members is broken down as they share the same Alpha experience.
- Alpha creates a setting in which strangers can talk about first-order questions such as the existence of God, the meaning of life, who Jesus is, what happens when we die, how to read the Bible, how to receive Christ, how to pray, and even to practice prayer in their group. In the accepting environment of Alpha, people from outside the church can freely ask their questions and find solid answers. With the Holy Spirit’s presence, a deep spiritual bonding takes place. Where else in the world, or even in the church, does such an environment exist?
- Alpha guidelines do not allow new people to join the course after the third week of meetings, recognizing that the bonding has begun to take place. Permitting outsiders to joining after week 3 can disrupt the dynamic and hinder the formation of trust.
- Alpha encourages the small groups to continue meeting together after the course ends. God has made us to live in community as believers, so just because the course ends does not mean the community ends. The groups that carry on are simply Bible studies or life groups that can use any study materials the individual church chooses. These groups seem to work best when the leader has served as the group’s host or helper during the Alpha course. In our church, we called these Alpha follow-ups “Beta groups.” Because of their Alpha foundation, Beta groups often found it convenient to continue meeting on the same day and time as Alpha. Many maintained the practice of sharing a meal, and some embraced the shared task of serving the current Alpha course by doing setup, preparing meals, and/or offering technical or prayer support.
- Alpha “graduates” who still have questions or doubts about the Christian faith can continue to seek and learn in the Beta group.
Alpha brings people who were outside the church, or simply observers, into the community of faith. It was always a joy for me as pastor to see Alpha group members sitting together in Sunday morning worship. In addition, it was my occasional privilege to officiate at the weddings of couples who had met in their Alpha small groups—the ultimate Christian community!
The Church of Jesus Christ is God’s provision to meet the deep human need to belong. Only in the Church is there the possibility for a true Christian community, gathered to serve, to love, to grow in Christ-likeness, and above all to worship the Holy and Living Lord. Alpha is an amazing tool for fostering that community.
