“We tried Alpha and it didn’t work.” Countless ministers have reported this to me. Yet Alpha is easily the most effective process-evangelism resource used by churches across the western-world. Alpha serves as the centrepiece of the mission process in some remarkably effective churches – most notably London’s Holy Trinity Brompton.
I’ve heard other church leaders similarly lament the failure of playgroups, kids clubs, sporting clubs and meals programs. Yet I have seen dozens of churches build fruitful mission pathways featuring these very same programs.
Imagine hiring a tradie to build an extension on your house and they showed up onsite wielding only a hammer. When you question their logic and they respond, “This is an awesome hammer. I’ve watched lots of top-notch tradies and they all used hammers like this one.”
Churches often fall into the mistake of thinking a single tool will enable them to become effective disciple-making communities. We hear stories about churches that began running a particular program with great success and surmise that running the same program will deliver similar results. Occasionally it works. But more often success in making new disciples is due to a confluence of factors all working in unison.
Let’s think about process. Earlier I described Alpha as a process-evangelism resource. In churches that use Alpha effectively, it’s usually a process within a longer process of disciple-making. That process usually includes with an environment that meets a felt need, like a playgroup or mainly music, where warm and trusting relationships can form. From there it might be an invitation to a reading group or the Alpha marriage course – again, environments designed to meet felt needs. From there, and invitation to Alpha seems both natural and easy to accept.
Let’s think about culture. People adopt the faith of their friends and relatives – provided that faith is attractive and compelling. No one is attracted to the faith of a dogged churchgoer who dutifully turns up each week out of a sense of obligation to keep the church running or to maintain their place in influence. Disciples who genuinely and actively love God, neighbours, each other and even their enemies are compelling people. It feels good to be around them. Their friends want to have what they’re having.
When a church runs programs that enable unchurched people to become friends with loving disciples, faith becomes a little contagious. An invitation to Alpha is received as a gift.
If you would like to learn how to apply Pathways thinking in your church, get in touch.