Alpha Friends

Alpha International Week news round up

indiaaldridge — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:37:27 +0100

More than 1500 delegates from 100 countries – including 75 Bishops – attended the Alpha ‘International Week’ at Holy Trinity Brompton last week.

Nearly half the Bishops were from the Roman Catholic church and included several Archbishops.The ‘Bishops’ stream’ was hosted by the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres.

The biennial event is an opportunity for Alpha leaders throughout the world to meet together for encouragement and envisioning for the years ahead. The week included an Alpha Conference, a Marriage Conference, training events and seminars.

The Archbishop of Canterbury led a special service of Morning Prayer in the Crypt Chapel of Lambeth Palace for the Bishops attending Alpha International Week. After the service he welcomed the guests to a breakfast reception in one of Lambeth Palace’s state rooms.

Later that day 100 Catholic participants of the Alpha week, including all the Archbishops and Bishops, attended a special mass at Westminster Cathedral led by Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga of Colombia, who was attending the week.

After the service Thomas McMahon, Catholic Bishop of Brentwood, UK, welcomed the Bishops to a reception at Archbishop’s House.

Bishop McMahon praised Alpha, saying, ‘Alpha serves to draw all the churches together in the terms of the Gospel.”

Bishop of Durham Tom Wright spoke on the Tuesday evening on the urgency of the gospel.

The Bishop of London attended the first of two ‘News from the Nations’ sessions, where representatives from the 100 countries spoke of how Alpha was helping to bring Christian faith to their nations.

Alpha representatives from countries including India, Egypt, Albania, Mauritius, Colombia, the United States, France, Russia, China and Rwanda spoke movingly of what they had seen.

Closing the session, the Bishop said, ‘I have seen the extraordinary life [Alpha] has brought to the church in this global crossroads of London and throughout the country.

‘One of my brother Bishops said to me, “What I find amazing about this is: there is no Alpha movement. They are not trying to set up their own international fellowship.”

To watch the edited highlights of International Week click here.

Bishop of Durham closes the second day

indiaaldridge — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:21:38 +0100

The Bishop of Durham closed the second day of Alpha International Week at Holy Trinity Brompton. More than 800 delegates from over 100 countries attended the talk, which focused on the urgency of the Gospels.

Bishop Tom Wright is one of the 75 archbishops and bishops from many denominations, including more than 30 Catholic archbishops and bishops that are attending the international conference.

Bishop of London Opening Address

adesola — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:51:08 +0100

The Bishop of London opened Alpha International Week yesterday at Holy Trinity Brompton.

More than 1500 delegates from 100 countries are attending the week, which is to encourage and envision Alpha representatives around the world.

Bishop Richard Chartres is hosting a ‘Bishops stream’ at the week, with 75 archbishops and bishops from many denominations, including more than 30 Catholic archbishops and bishops.

Today the conference will be addressed by the Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright.

70 Bishops coming to HTB week

indiaaldridge — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:51:51 +0100

Around 70 Archbishops and Bishops from 35 countries are set to attend the Alpha International Week at Holy Trinity next month.

It is the first time a ‘Bishops Stream’ has been included in the biennial gathering of Alpha representatives from all over the world. Nearly half the bishops, who will be hosted by the Bishop of London, are from the Roman Catholic church.

Catholic Herald praises The Parenting Book

indiaaldridge — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:05:02 +0100

One of the UK’s biggest Catholic newspapershas praised The Parenting Book – the new book written by Nicky and Sila Lee.

A review in the Catholic Herald said of thebook, ‘This clear and readable book will be invaluable to parents struggling toraise their children in an age when the family is being increasinglyundermined.’

The review praised the book’s ‘practicaladvice and good humour’ making it ‘ideal reading for any parents with young orteenage children.’

The book, which is published by AlphaInternational, has sold more than 1,600 copies since being launched last month.

God at Work's UK tour

indiaaldridge — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:32:00 +0100

Almost 100 people attended a launch eventfor the God at Work course at Renfield St. Stephen’s Church Centre in Glasgowlast month on the latest leg of a UK tour to promote the new course. The eventwas hosted by Business in Glasgow and Alpha Scotland.

Guests included leaders from the world ofScottish business. After coffee and cakes, Ken Costa spoke about his vision forthe workplace course.

The Scottish Big Banner Bonanza

Wed, 13 May 2009 13:24:34 +0100

Backing up this year's Alpha Invitation Alpha Scotland is launching the Scottish Big Banner Bonanza - 100 New Alpha Banners in Scotland for September '09. Independent market research shows that Alpha banners play a major role in raising Alpha awareness.

“We need your help to get banners up anywhere and everywhere - in villages, towns and cities right across the nation,” said Alpha Scotland’s Kieran Dunne. “Many of our church buildings are in prime site locations that hundreds and even thousands of people go past every day. We’re looking primarily for churches, but also businesses, organisations and individuals to take up the banner challenge – where can you stick yours?”

To help get the project off to a flying start we have been able to secure discounted prices for banners, and a number of different size options are available. Could your church or business display one? Or maybe you could sponsor a banner to help a church near you?

For more details on The Big Banner Bonanza click here or get in touch with Kieran at Alpha Scotland on 0141 332 0051 kieran.dunne@alpha.org

The Alpha Conference 2009

adesola — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:21:44 +0100

The Alpha Conference is fast approaching! Please come and join us at Holy Trinity Brompton on Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th June.

The Alpha Conference is for churches and individuals who share the vision to reach their communities with the good news of Jesus Christ.

It offers:

- Complete training on how to run the Alpha course

- A tailored programme for all experiences, from those wanting to find out what the Alpha course is, through to those who have run many Alpha courses.

- Plenty of time for worship, ministry and a chance to meet others with similar passions.

There will be a number of new streams at the conference this year including the Emerge stream for youth (teenagers) and students or those involved in youth and student ministry as well as specific context streams for those running Alpha in Prisons, in the Workplace, with the Forces, and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).

It will be a really exciting and encouraging time!

Click here to see the Invitation from Nicky Gumbel

For more information and to book online click here.

God at Work launches in Scotland

petera — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:27:37 +0100

The Scottish launch of the new God at Work Course resource took place at Renfield St Stephen's Church in Glasgow in April.

Ken Costa, Chairman of Alpha International and Chairman of Lazard International, is the author of the book God at Work, on which the course is based. Ken gave an overview of the course, which tackles such issues as purpose at work, ambition, work-life balance, stress and making tough decisions.

Ken talked on how we can respond to the current global crisis and explained how his faith has helped him in the world of investment banking for over 30 years.

In his talk, Ken gave examples from the Bible which are similar to the present financial status.

He noted that the city of Tyre in Ezekiel 27 had merchants come from Syria, Damascus, Persia and Libya to trade spices, jewels, gold and embroidery. This, he said, was comparable to our present day New York and London Stock Exchanges. However, Tyre was ultimately destroyed because it had been corrupted with pride, violence and dishonest trade.

The good news for those who put their trust in Him is that they will be unshakable, because God's kingdom is unshakable.

You can listen to Ken's talk kere

42 Bishops to attend Alpha’s big week.

Sharon Hayles — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:37:43 +0100

Forty-two bishops from 24 countries have accepted an invitation to attend Alpha International week at Holy Trinity Brompton in June.

The ‘Bishops’ Stream’ at the event will be hosted by the Bishop of London with three other bishops – the Bishop of Durham, Bishop Sandy Millar and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brentwood.

More than half the bishops who have accepted are Roman Catholic and include the Archbishop of Buenos Aires and three other Catholic archbishops – from Colombia, India and Mexico Archbishops

Three Anglican Archbishops – the primates of Kenya, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East – have said they will be there. Other attendees include the Catholic Bishop of Versailles and the Lutheran Bishop of Estonia.

Alpha International week is the biannual gathering of Alpha representatives from all over the world. Around 1,000 church leaders are expected to take part in the event.

This is the first time that a ‘Bishops stream’ has been held at the event, which includes a two-day Alpha conference and opportunities to discuss and plan the vision for coming years.