The Alpha Course - Irish Catholic
18th Aug 05
“I made many friends, I loved
the singing, I found the Alpha Course very spiritual and uplifting.”
“I
was encouraged. The future looks a lot brighter.”
“It’s good to be part of a group of searching people. It
made me realise we are all on the same journey.” These are some of the
comments from the 65 people who completed an Alpha Course at Holy Family Parish in South Dublin in Autumn 2003.
What is Alpha? Alpha is a 10-week course that explores some of the
basic truths of the Christian faith – Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus die?
Participants meet weekly and listen to a 40 minute talk. These talks
are available on video/DVD or can be given by a live speaker. Participants
then break into small groups to discuss the talk and questions arising from it.
During the Course there is a day/week-end away. As the course ends,
participants are encouraged to continue their spiritual journey in the local
parish, sometimes through a parish cell group. Cell groups are now
established in 39 Catholic parishes, some as a follow-up to Alpha eg. Callan, Carrickfergus,
Longford.
It
is exciting to see so many people respond to the challenge of Pope John Paul
II: “The task which
awaits you, new evangelisation, demands that you
present with fresh enthusiasm and new methods the …
Christian faith… It is
not a matter of merely passing on a doctrine, but
rather of a personal and profound meeting with the Saviour.” Archbishop Diarmuid Martin underlined this challenge when
he stated, “evangelise or we’re out of
business.” (Irish Catholic, 27/5/04).
Recently a Dublin Parish Council met
with 100 parishioners to discuss the way forward; 2 key questions were: What is
evangelisation? Can we have adult faith formation courses? I have been
involved in running 5 Alpha courses and I am convinced that Alpha answers these
questions. It is aimed primarily at those who have little or no knowledge of the
Christian faith, i.e., the un-churched or the
lapsed. It is also very helpful for
church-goers to renew their faith.
Alpha has been running in Ireland since 1998, but an
“Alpha Ireland” Board
was formed to promote Alpha only in Feb. 2005. The Board includes Fr. Pat
Collins, Ger Gallagher (Catholic Youth Care), David Quinn, Ray McNicholas,
Pastor Sean Mularkey, Rev. Frank Sellar, Basil Good (all Dublin), Rev. Ken
Wilson (Bray), Sr. Brigid Dunne (Cork), Catherine Corkery (Longford) and Enda
Finn (Dundalk) and in March I was appointed National
Co-ordinator.
Many Church leaders have endorsed
this Course, including Archbishop Sean
Brady, who said “Alpha has developed a reputation as an inspirational programme of
Christian Education and formation, producing excellent results and having a
long-lasting and positive effect for those who participate ... may it
continue to grow and develop.” Cardinal Walter Kasper highlighted
how Alpha can strengthen ecumenical togetherness among Christians.
Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the Papal Household, in a keynote address
(available by email) to an international Alpha Gathering stated he appreciates
Alpha “because it doesn’t claim to lead people
from beginning to end in faith, only to help get acquainted with it, and to
foster a personal encounter with Jesus, leaving it to other Church departments
to develop the newly rekindled faith”
A number of specialised areas have
been developed from the basic Alpha Course such as a Youth Alpha, which has been
successfully used in transition year in a number of Dublin schools, Alpha in the Workplace, run at
lunch times and the successful Marriage Courses. Alpha has also worked well in UK prisons where
45,000 prisoners have
attended an Alpha Course. This lead to the formation of a ‘Caring for
Ex-Offenders’ ministry which has placed 500 ex-prisoners in local
parishes/churches when they left prison. Alpha has been run in 5 prisons
in Ireland.
Alpha is currently having a
dynamic effect among young adults in many countries. I am very encouraged that Alpha
International has been invited to host 2 events as part of World Youth Day in Cologne this
month. An independent survey showed that 182,000 people attended over 7,000 Alpha courses in
the UK last year and that 59% of these were under
40.
As a
Catholic I am excited about the potential for the Alpha Course to change the face of
Ireland. In Bray the four main churches jointly sponsor Alpha, the first
one in the Catholic Parish Hall and subsequently they ran Alpha in a local pub.
In the Catholic Church Alpha followed by Parish Cell
Groups can be a vital way of renewing parish life
and transforming our society. Alpha Ireland aims to be a resource to all
Catholic parishes in this country and has plans to