The Alpha Programme
Research into a Contemporary Evangelical Initiative
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v1i1.49Keywords:
Alpha Course, EvangelizingAbstract
The Alpha course is possibly the most widespread and best known evangelizing initiative of recent times. Billing itself as an introduction into ‘basic Christianity’, Alpha is an innovating course that has been adopted world-wide by tens of thousands of churches. This paper overviews the research methods of a national survey in the UK which were utilized in order to investigate and analyse various aspects of Alpha including its use in different contexts, who joins the programme and why, and its anticipated levels of success. These aspects of Alpha were explored through a variety of research methods; questionnaires; semi-structured interviews; participant observation; and a literature review.
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References
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—2004, The Alpha Enterprise: Evangelism in the Post-Christian Era. London: Ashgate.
—2005, ‘The Alpha Programme: Charismatic Evangelism for the Contemporary Age’, Pneuma, Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies Spring (forthcoming).
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Richter, P., and L.J. Frances, 1998, Gone but Not Forgotten: Church Leaving and Returning. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.
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Stark, R., R. Finke and A. Guest, 1996, ‘Mobilizing Local Religious Markets: Religious Pluralism in the Empire Stage, 1855-1865’, Sociological Review 61(2): 203-18.
Finke, R., 1997, ‘The Consequences of Religious Competition: Supply-Side Explanations for Religious Change’. In L. Young (ed.), Rational Choice Theory and Religion: Summary and Assessment. New York: Routledge: 45-84.
Glaser, B., and A. Strauss, 1967, The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Chicago: Aldine.
Hunt, S., 1995, ‘The “Toronto Blessing”: A Rumour of Angels?’. Journal of Contemporary Religion 10(3): 257-71.
—2000, Anyone for Alpha? Inside a Leading Evangelising Initiative. London: Darton, Longman & Todd.
—2003, ‘The Alpha Programme: Some Tentative Observations’. Journal of Contemporary Religion 18(1): 77-93.
—2004, The Alpha Enterprise: Evangelism in the Post-Christian Era. London: Ashgate.
—2005, ‘The Alpha Programme: Charismatic Evangelism for the Contemporary Age’, Pneuma, Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies Spring (forthcoming).
Lannaccone, L., 1992, ‘Religious Markets and the Economics of Religion’. Social Compass 39: 12331.
Lyon, D., 1996, ‘Religion and the Postmodern: Old Problems, New Prospects’. In K. Flanagan and P. Jupp (eds.), Postmodernity, Sociology and Religion. London: MacMillan: 32-47.
Lyon, D., 2000, Jesus in Disneyland: Religion in Postmodern Times. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000.
Poloma, M., 2003, Main Street Mystics: The Toronto Blessing and Reviving Pentecostalism. New York: Altamira Press.
Richter, P., 1995, ‘ “God Is Not a Gentleman!” The Sociology of the Toronto Blessing’. In P. Richter, and S. Porter (eds.), The Toronto Blessing—Or Is It? London: Darton, Longman & Todd: 4-36.
Richter, P., 1997, ‘The Toronto Blessing: Charismatic Evangelical Global Warming’. In S. Hunt, M. Hamilton and T. Walter (eds.), Charismatic Christianity: Sociological Perspective. Basingstoke: MacMillan: 97-119.
Richter, P., and L.J. Frances, 1998, Gone but Not Forgotten: Church Leaving and Returning. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.
Römer, J., 2002, The Toronto Blessing. Helsinki: ?bo Akademi University Press.
Stark, R., R. Finke and A. Guest, 1996, ‘Mobilizing Local Religious Markets: Religious Pluralism in the Empire Stage, 1855-1865’, Sociological Review 61(2): 203-18.
Published
2005-01-01
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Hunt, S. (2005). The Alpha Programme: Research into a Contemporary Evangelical Initiative. Fieldwork in Religion, 1(1), 49-68. https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v1i1.49
