I can have a go at summarising Alpha. It’s a course, usually 10 weeks though not always, which bills itself as an introduction to Christianity. It was developed by Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) church in one of the posh bits of London, and it’s in a kind of format which can be adopted quite easily by other churches, and other institutions too - it used to be run in prisons quite a bit.
Generally, there’s a meal, and a talk (or video) and then discussion in small groups. It “works” well (whatever works means in this context) in a big city church, where there’s perhaps quite a movement in population- lots of students, say, who are also keen to be fed. I did it in my first or second year at university.
I think this
https://www.newstatesman.com/religion/2 ... ristianity is a fair and decent write up, though the course leaders here sound particularly tw.ttish, and I’m sure they’re not all that bad. Belief in creationism is vanishingly rare ime, too.
Some of the criticisms of Alpha are, firstly - it’s based on a particular, and very narrow, understanding of Christianity. I’m reluctant to mention theology on this board and in this discussion in particular, but I think their theology is a bit naff. Secondly, it’s really not the discussion it’s billed as being - tricky questions get smilingly swept under the carpet. They have their agenda, and my goodness they’re going to stick to it!
My church has run it a few times, and the result was a huge pressure on the Faithful Old Ladies to provide dinner for 30 people each week. And, as the NS item mentions, lots of people are lonely and anxious and in need of dinner and a chat. I’m not sure why we can’t just do dinner and a chat (if cooks can be found).
The bigger issue for me is the HTB juggernaut. It’s a massive corporate organisation with a huge staff. They are in hock (I think) to money, power and prestige - they’ve had a member of Trump’s evangelical council visit to speak, who spoke about how God had gifted him a plane, etc etc. I emailed them about that. No reply, obv.
Worse, they and their linked churches are smilingly homophobic and beneath the shiny exterior do tremendous damage, here’s one example, I’m sure there are loads more.
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/ ... urch-plant and there seems to be very little holding them to account by the management. But they have all the money, and the CofE is broke.
Oh, and they have a habit of taking over tiny churches often attended by people on the margins who found a home, and making them all shiny and part of the HTB brand. Like St Teilo’s
https://www.change.org/p/diocese-of-lla ... -community