Alpha Course
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The Alpha Course is a ten-week course about Christianity run by churches mostly in the United Kingdom. It was started by Holy Trinity Brompton, directly inspired by and cribbing from the Toronto Blessing.
It is promoted as having been designed for atheists, agnostics and the 'unchurched', promoting philosophical reflection on such heady issues as the meaning of life. This is completely false; in practice, it competes at the theologically simplistic Pentecostal and Evangelical end of the religious market. It concludes with a weekend residential component where, it has been reported, everyone goes a bit bonkers and starts speaking in tongues, getting slain in the spirit and all sorts of other Pentecostal stuff that non-evangelicals tend to think is a bit over the top for the Church of England.
Less strident Christians tend to think of it as cultish and don't really like it showing up in their C of E, sometimes taking the time to make sure it doesn't get a foothold. They are particularly troubled by the way people show up with great enthusiasm, get baptised, are enthusiastic for two weeks then disappear, and feel this is unhealthy and doesn't produce a very stable mental outlook (which is also the humanist objection).
[edit] What people have said about the Alpha Course
“”Alpha ...is probably the most interesting and incredible thing going on in our Christian world.
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| —Tony Blair, Former Uk Prime Minister [sic] |
“”Alpha is fantastic because it explains it so simply and you go, "Wow, why didn't I think of that?"
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| —Bobby Ball, "Comedian" |