Although most people attend the course because they have been invited personally by a friend or family member, there are many ways of reaching out into the wider community and encouraging people to attend.
Fourteen ways to attract people to your Alpha course:
- Friends, family and work colleagues of those who did a previous course. The main way a course will grow is by people who have attended Alpha telling people about their experience and inviting them on a subsequent course. The more we run Alpha the more this builds.
- Alpha celebration suppers. The purpose of the Alpha celebration supper is both to celebrate the end of one Alpha course and to launch the next course. See Alpha Suppers and Launch events for more details.
- Congregation contacts. It is important for the person leading the church to be pro-actively encouraging the congregation to bring their friends.
- Baptism candidates. Alpha is an ideal course to offer as preparation for parents who wish to have their children baptised or individuals who wish to be baptised.
- Engaged couples. Many people start coming to church services because they want to get married. Why not encourage those who are planning to marry in your church to attend the Alpha course?
- Occasional churchgoers. Many people go to church at Christmas, Easter, Harvest Festival or for family services. These are ideal opportunities to reach out to those who may not normally come to church.
- The church magazine. Printing interviews with those who have come to Christ on the local Alpha course in a church or community magazine has proved a very effective method of encouraging others to come along.
- Community groups (scouts and guides, mother and toddler groups, marriage and parenting courses). These are increasingly popular with non-churchgoers and provide an ideal setting to mention or even run the Alpha course.
- Guest services. These are aimed specifically at non-churchgoers and can be held the Sunday before the Alpha course starts.
- Alpha Sundays. This is a normal Sunday service with a ten-minute slot about Alpha. It’s usually held the week before the guest service and aims to encourage the congregation to invite friends to the guest service and the Alpha course.
- Missions and evangelistic events. Alpha is an idea follow-up course for a mission event or social action project and has been used in this way by J.John and other evangelists.
- Family life courses. Some people would not come on an Alpha course but would like some practical help with their marriage or parenting, for example. During the course, they may hear a little about Alpha and decide that they would like to give it a try. For more information about The Marriage Course, see themarriagecourse.org.
- The Alpha Directory. This is a list of churches on uk.alpha.org/findacourse that are running Alpha. There is no charge for being featured on this directory – you can register your course here. This directory is an enormous help for people who want to recommend Alpha to their friends, family and work colleagues who may live in different parts of the country.
- Using promotional resources. Although most people attend an Alpha course as a result of a personal invitation, the role of advertising is to make the personal invitation easier. Promotional Materials are available and Advertising and PR Guidelines give ideas and a practical step-by-step guide to advertising your course and getting an article into the local press.
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