In September 1998, Alpha held its first national ‘Initiative’ with a ?1 million poster campaign. Similar initiatives have been held across the UK each year since. Mark Elsdon-Dew takes a look back:

The Alpha course is to be advertised on television in September as part of this year’s annual initiative. The 60-second advertisement will appear on popular digital channel E4 during two weeks in the run-up to the autumn courses.

Between 1986 and 1999 Pastor Eddie Ma of Shaukiwan Baptist Church, Hong Kong, studied church growth and saw his congregation increase from 200 to 300. Then in 1999 he discovered the Alpha course and something astonishing happened. Here he tells the story of how his church has since grown to 1500 people – and continues to grow:

Nearly 2,000 Chinese pastors and church leaders from all over the Far East attended the first global Chinese Alpha conference in Hong Kong in April.

Alpha has launched an online shop in the UK following the success of a similar site for Alpha resources in the US.

Alpha has joined forces with a number of other Christian organisations and churches around the world in a campaign to fight global poverty.

Around 1,000 church leaders from 76 countries around the world attended Alpha’s big biannual International Week in London in May.Among the delegates were many senior church leaders including the Catholic Archbishop of Moscow, three Catholic bishops from Peru, and three Anglican bishops from India.

The Bishop of London was among 150 guests who attended the launch of a new book to help Christians in the workplace in March.The book God at Work is by leading investment banker Ken Costa, who is also Chairman of Alpha International. He has donated all his royalties to Alpha.

Twenty-three prisoners at the maximum security prison HMP Maghaberry in Northern Ireland - including many on life sentences - attended a three-day Alpha event in March.

Alpha speakers Paul Cowley and Jerry Field (left) were the main speakers at an Alpha conference for 800 delegates in Moscow in February.