Alpha Friends

The build up to EMEA Week

scollier — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:36:30 +0100

Over 1000 delegates from over 80 different countries are booked in to attend EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) Week next week at Holy Trinity Brompton, London.

An Alpha Conference will take place on the Monday and Tuesday with seminars being held covering many topics including how to run Alpha effectively, developing an existing course, and Alpha in a Catholic context.

Workshops will be held covering a number of topics on the Wednesday and Thursday including the Theology of Alpha led by St Paul's Theological Centre's Dr Graham Tomlin. Andy Emerton will also lead a workshop on Pastorates, Small Groups and Discipleship.

An Alpha in the Workplace Conference will also be held on the Friday.

A copy of the weeks schedule is available for download below

Pete Greig joins Alpha/HTB team

scollier — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:01:16 +0100

Popular author, church leader and 24-7 Prayer co-founder Pete Greig is to take charge of prayer at Holy Trinity Brompton and Alpha from January 2009.

He will take over from Jeremy Jennings, who has led prayer at the church since he launched the first weekly corporate prayer meeting in 1990. Mr Jennings – who has been closely involved in Pete Greig's appointment – will remain on the HTB/Alpha staff as Pastoral Director and in charge of church finances.

Pete Greig, whose recent book God on Mute has been acclaimed by Christian leaders across the UK, will continue to lead 24-7 Prayer, the global, inter-denominational movement which began in 1999 and now has offices in nine countries.

From September this year, he will work one day each week at Holy Trinity in order to acclimatise and to begin the handover. Then from January, he will combine his responsibilities at HTB and Alpha with his role for 24-7 prayer.

As Director of Prayer, he will take charge of all aspects of HTB and Alpha's prayer ministry, including corporate prayer meetings, prayer at Sunday services, Alpha Invitation prayer events and prayer conferences.

Pete Greig started the 24-7 Prayer movement 'accidentally' in 1999 in Chichester where he led a student congregation called 'Warehouse'. Drawing on the experience of the Moravian church's 100 year prayer meeting, he proposed a month of non-stop prayer in September 1999.

They began praying in a room adjoining the church offices – and more and more people became involved. By the end of the month they decided to continue.

He wrote later in his book Red Moon Rising – a history of the movement, 'By the end of October the prayer momentum was unstoppable. People were almost becoming addicted to the presence of God. There would have been an outcry if we had tried to stop the flow...'

Pete and his wife Samie and their two sons Hudson and Daniel are planning to continue living at their home in Guildford, Surrey, when he takes up his role at HTB.

Pete said, 'I'm very excited by this new opportunity to build on Jeremy Jenning's considerable legacy of prayer at HTB and have lots of ideas already! 24-7 Prayer shares Alpha's absolute passion to see the re-evangelisation of the nation and the transformation of society and the conviction that prayer really is the key.'

HTB Vicar Nicky Gumbel said, 'Pete Greig has built up an extraordinary ministry which is growing all over the world – and we have much to learn from him.He is a friend and has spoken on many occasions at our Home Focus holiday and at Alpha conferences. We are delighted that he will be joining us.'

Jeremy Jennings said, 'Pete is unique. I have been trying to encourage him to come to HTB for ages and I couldn't be more thrilled.'

2008 Alpha Invitation is launched

jdelaune — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:00:00 +0100

The September Alpha Invitation was launched on 9 May and all registered UK Alpha courses will be receiving a pack over the next few days with sample promotional materials, details about the campaign and a DVD showing what is happening across the UK.

The 2008 design is a striking, text-based creative, based on the question.

It’s a question which guests are often asked on the first night of an Alpha course as a way of opening up discussion and finding out what people think. The hope is that these posters will stimulate thought and discussion and help show that the Alpha course is a place where they can ask questions and delve into the big issues.

Read more about the campaign and find out how to get involved.

Salvation stories from Broadstairs

scollier — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:30:11 +0100

Pete and Hilary Watt moved to Broadstairs in 2006, as part of a church planting team from The City Church Canterbury. Since the church started, it has seen steady growth through salvation, and Pete shares some of these wonderful stories here.

“I have a question. Is it normal to feel hot and for your arm to shake? I’m in a work meeting and I’ve got an incredible urge to pray. I have to make my excuses and hide in the toilet to pray. Is this normal?”

Caroline became a Christian on the last day of Together on a Mission 2007. Although she wasn’t actually at the conference, I returned with a sense that God was going to bring about a breakthrough in my street.

So, on my return from Brighton I popped in to see Caroline. Her daughter Vicky had become a Christian a few weeks earlier on Alpha...

For the full story, click here

Story taken from the New Frontiers website

Worship Central Glasgow

scollier — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:41:59 +0100

Around 650 worship leaders, musicians and worshipers attended a Worship Central event held at Queen's Park Baptist Church, Glasgow, last month.

Worship Central leaders, Tim Hughes and Al Gordon, hosted the day.

Guest speakers included founder of the international prayer movement '24/7 Prayer', Pete Greig and Theologian, Mike Lloyd.

Delegates from a variety of denominations travelled from all across the country, including some who made the trip from the Shetland Islands

Marriage Course filmed in TV studio

scollier — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:34:50 +0100

The re-filming of The Marriage Course took place last month in Wandsworth TV Studios.

Last month’s studio filming took place in the same studio that BBC television programme ‘Ready Steady Cook’ is filmed, and directed by the same director as ‘Ready Steady Cook’.

Marriage Course pioneers, Nicky & Sila Lee, presented the course in front of a live studio audience of guests and couples who had volunteered to take part.

Filming for the new DVDs began in January, with ‘sofa couples’ and ‘feature couples’ being filmed in Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Australia, USA, Ghana, France and the UK.

The couples speak about how the course has impacted their relationships.
Extra features on the new DVDs include a session for couples who spend extended periods of time apart - such as those in the Armed Froces - and a training session for course leaders.

The new filmings will be available in 2009 and will replace the current DVDs, which were filmed in 2000.

Training events held in Ghana

scollier — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:25:11 +0100

Two pastorate teams from Holy Trinity Brompton, London, have recently returned from leading Global Alpha Training (GAT) events in Ghana.

Global Alpha Training is an initiative involving 60 different worldwide partner churches who will run 80 training events in 30 different countries throughout 2008. It is designed to meet the need for Alpha training throughout the world.

Three day events were held in partnership with Alpha Ghana last week in Kumasi and Accra, with over 250 delegates in attendance.

The GAT teams lead prayers and worship at the events along with delivering talks and leading model Alpha sessions.

The Accra event was opened by William K Asiedu, Director General of Ghana Prisons, and Revd Fred Degbee, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana. Over 20 different denominations were represented from a range of African countries.

More GAT teams are set to lead training events around the world in the coming months.

Renovations at new headquarters underway

scollier — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:03:11 +0100

Renovation work is now underway at Alpha International's new headquarters in the parish of Holy Trinity Brompton, London.

Since the purchase of the building was completed last month, builders have moved in to begin work on the 16-month project.

Much work has already been completed including the completion of central heating runs and electrics on two floors, ceilings and roof joists stripped and stengthened on top floor and all windows have been eased.

One of the staircases is also in the process of being demolished to allow room for a lift.

Teams return from Asia

scollier — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:18:15 +0100

Alpha teams from Holy Trinity Brompton, London, have recently returned from Asia where a host of events were held.

More than 1,200 church leaders from 21 countries across the Asia Pacific region attended an Alpha conference in Singapore last week. Speakers included Nicky Gumbel, Jamie Haith and Paul Cowley.

Alpha pioneer, Nicky Gumbel, said, 'I think it's one of the most significant trips we've done.

'There are around 3.5 billion people living in that part of the world, but only 500 million are Christian, so there are 3 billion people to reach.'

As well as the Alpha conference, events were also held by Worship Central, Youth Alpha, and St Paul's Theological Centre.

The Worship Central team began in Manila, where around 3,000 worship leaders attended two evening celebrations.

The team then travelled to Singapore, where around 12,000 young people attended two Worship Central events in one of Singapore's largest indoor arenas.

The city's Max Pavilion Singapore Expo was packed with young worshippers. Worship was led by Tim Hughes and his band from Holy Trinity Brompton, London, and the Australian group Planet Shakers.

A Worship Central day was also held with many countries being represented, including Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.

Tim Hughes said, 'Everywhere we go there is such a need for training for
worship leaders.'

A Youth Alpha Conference is set to be held in Singapore later this week.

Matt Costley, head of Youth Alpha, said, 'There are around 1.5 billion young people in Asia and there is a great hunger for Youth Alpha.'

Matt also gave news of a prestigious school in Hong Kong that is now running Youth Alpha as part of the school curriculum.

Rev Dr Graham Tomlin, Principal of St Paul's Theological Centre, also led a number of meetings for those interested in theological training in Asia.

Graham said, 'The thing that struck me was the huge hunger for good theological training in that part of the world.'

1,200 Attend Singapore Conference

scollier — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:51:05 +0100

More than 1,200 church leaders from 21 countries across the Asia Pacific region attended an Alpha conference in Singapore last week. Speakers included Nicky Gumbel, Jamie Haith and Paul Cowley.

Worship was led by Tim Hughes and a band from Holy Trinity Brompton.
The event was opened by senior leaders from three different denominations – Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist.

Nicholas Chia, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore, who said ‘I was struck by the simplicity and charisma of Alpha. I believe Alpha is an effective tool to carry out our mission.’

Bishop Rennis Ponniah, Anglican Assistant Bishop of Singapore, who has been running Alpha for more than ten years, said, ‘The most exciting thing about Alpha is watching God transform lives.’

Methodist Bishop Robert Solomon said, ‘God has raised Alpha to bless the nations.’
The conference was held at St Johns and St Margaret’s Church, Singapore.