the Nuts and Bolts

What’s in Alpha?

weekend away

Christianity: Boring, untrue and irrelevant?Who is Jesus?Why did Jesus die?How can I be sure of my faith?Why & how should I read the Bible?Why & how do I pray?How does God guide us?Who is the Holy Spirit?What does the Holy Spirit do?How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?How can I make the most of the rest of my life?How can I resist evil?Why and how should we tell others?Does God heal today?What about the church?

Who is the course for?

Young people in your church

Young people on the fringe

Young people associated with a local club or organization

Young people in a local school

When and where?Do some research

Think about the options

Make it comfortable for young people

Church? Community centre? Sports hall? Home? Other options?

ResourcesYounger youth manual (11-14)

Older youth manual (15 +)

Leaders Guide

Questions of Life

My Whole World Jumped

Presentations CD

Three Streams

Alpha-Tech

Alpha-Active

Alpha-Lite

ALPHATECH

multimedia

cerebral / technical engagement

participants confident and willing to explore abstract ideas and discuss them

target : older youth and those who have had some exposure to Christianity

interact with the teaching material through activity

active games, visual aids, drama sketches and content-related tasks

target : younger youth and those not comfortable with academic thought or book culture

ALPHAACTIVE

shorter time requirements, and reduced responsibility upon leadership

story-based communication

target : schools, peer-led groups and situations with time constraints

ALPHALITE

The makeup of a ‘typical’ session

Set the atmosphere

Food

Arrival / Gathering

Icebreaker

See Leaders Guide for ideas

Let’s go through an example

PresentationUse the leaders guide

Use your own illustrations

Make it fun - not too heavy or intense

Keep it factual - communicate the Alpha material

Keep things moving - who can help you?

Prepare properly

Small GroupsGive them the opportunity to voice what they believe

No question is too simple or too hostile

Leading questions and activities in the Leaders Guide

Small GroupsLeadership

Who? Preferably, use young people

Role of table leader, not guru• Encourages, guides and steers discussion• Look for opinions• Don’t take sides• Briefly summarise main points

Small GroupsGround rules

No put downs

There is no such thing as a stupid question

No one is forced to talk and only one person talks at a time

What is said in the group stays in the group

YOUTH ALPHA