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Talk:Alpha Course
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UK?[edit]
Is it mostly in the UK? I live in the UK, and have seen the posters & adverts, but it was far more prominent in Vancouver in 2003ish. Think it was 2003. Dunno. 
EXTERMINATE 09:04, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
- I'm pretty sure that I recall it in Sheffield pre-2000. Didn't take much notice at the time. 09:35, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
- Yeah, in Leeds there's a church which does a free BBQ every Friday night for the first six weeks after students move to the city, trying to get them to attend the church or sign up to the Alpha Course. The BBQ was on the walk between my house and the pub. Wonderful. EXTERMINATE 09:51, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
- Didn't it grow out of the wp:Toronto Blessing or something? Real first name and last initial (talk) 11:12, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- Yes, via the Holy Trinity Church in Brompton. A couple of preachers did the Toronto Blessing, brought it back with them and turned it into this. See wikipedia:Alpha course.
- There hasn't been a lot of sceptical writing I've found on it. Wikipedia certainly doesn't link to any. We could be a good go-to - David Gerard (talk) 11:46, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- In the words of the Oxford Revue 2008 show, "It's not so much a course as church." [1] Sadly, the tiny grammar mistake in that quote angers me so much that I can't quite bring myself to put it in the article.Webbtje (talk) 12:54, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- Jon Ronson gives it a go. some useful links? Real first name and last initial (talk) 13:57, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- According to their website, the Independent columnist Deborah Orr (who is an atheist) attended. Does anyone here feel like giving it a go?
Генгисmarauding 14:52, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- No thanks. I knew someone who did the Alpha Course and he became a born-again christian and got run over by a lorry. Real first name and last initial (talk) 18:49, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- I heard it was undergoing a re-brand of some kind but can't quite remember the "new" name. As the official webpage and WP don't seem to mention it, it could have been the case of some church making an even more fundie version and just trading on the name "Alpha". I'll have to see if I can find that again as it was a bit interesting.
gnostic 19:20, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- I had heard of this, apparently, back when it was being started. Originally, it sounded similar to something my own church runs, called the Disciple class.[2] That one is not fundamentalist at all and was designed by United Methodists. The underlying idea is that most people today don't know what the Bible actually contains, and is intended to introduce them to it. I gather that at some point this program was turned away from something like this and into something with a specifically Pentecostal/Charismatic focus. - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 17:47, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- It's in Canada too, although I'm not sure how far it spreads here. My dad on the east coast took the course but as he's got a bit of the skeptic in him despite being nominally C of E, he doesn't seem to have been that impressed. I don't think the version he took had a retreat component though. --Kels (talk) 17:54, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- I had heard of this, apparently, back when it was being started. Originally, it sounded similar to something my own church runs, called the Disciple class.[2] That one is not fundamentalist at all and was designed by United Methodists. The underlying idea is that most people today don't know what the Bible actually contains, and is intended to introduce them to it. I gather that at some point this program was turned away from something like this and into something with a specifically Pentecostal/Charismatic focus. - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 17:47, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- I heard it was undergoing a re-brand of some kind but can't quite remember the "new" name. As the official webpage and WP don't seem to mention it, it could have been the case of some church making an even more fundie version and just trading on the name "Alpha". I'll have to see if I can find that again as it was a bit interesting.
- No thanks. I knew someone who did the Alpha Course and he became a born-again christian and got run over by a lorry. Real first name and last initial (talk) 18:49, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- According to their website, the Independent columnist Deborah Orr (who is an atheist) attended. Does anyone here feel like giving it a go?
- Jon Ronson gives it a go. some useful links? Real first name and last initial (talk) 13:57, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- In the words of the Oxford Revue 2008 show, "It's not so much a course as church." [1] Sadly, the tiny grammar mistake in that quote angers me so much that I can't quite bring myself to put it in the article.Webbtje (talk) 12:54, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- Didn't it grow out of the wp:Toronto Blessing or something? Real first name and last initial (talk) 11:12, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
- Yeah, in Leeds there's a church which does a free BBQ every Friday night for the first six weeks after students move to the city, trying to get them to attend the church or sign up to the Alpha Course. The BBQ was on the walk between my house and the pub. Wonderful.
Funspace Omega Course/OMG Course? 82.44.143.26 (talk) 19:28, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
Steeplejacking[edit]
Apparently this is a thing. Probably needs an article, if anyone can be bothered - David Gerard (talk) 16:31, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- What, an article on Fred Dibnah? SophieWilder
17:57, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- Arf. Also known as "cuckoo churches" - move in and co-opt the congregation - David Gerard (talk) 21:39, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
Surely[edit]
There should also be an 'Omega Course' ('I am the Alpha and the Omega'? Anna Livia (talk) 15:39, 3 January 2020 (UTC)