Alpha 2023 St. John the Baptist parish

June 6, 2023

St. John the Baptist parish has just finished its first Alpha course with a wonderful turnout of 20 participants. When we initially set out with the idea of running the course, we put a lot of trust in God to bring out the parishioners whom he was calling to participate. Since this was our parish first Alpha course, we decided to invite our parishioners first before opening it to others. We were also prepared not to turn down anyone who wanted to participate. We had a total of 24 participants signed up with a steady 20 every night.

Our team consisted of Diane Dube, Rochelle Garnett, Allison Chandra, and Enrique Serrano who through the work of prayer and by the grace of the holy spirit were able to facilitate our Wednesday evening Alpha sessions. Stacey Serrano, Darla Slipp, and Brenda Grant were also part of our helpers with food and setup preparations which made the evening flow smoothly.

The Alpha course consisted of 15 Wednesday night sessions including a day retreat which was held in the Benton community center. Those who attended the day retreat were filled with the Holy Spirit and experienced a peaceful day of fellowship and community. After our lunch we went for a nice nature walk to the Ducks unlimited dam which provided fresh air and time to stretch our legs and lungs.

Wednesday Session our numbers staid steady, we had anywhere from 20 -24 participants. Our sessions started at 7 PM with snacks/sweets, coffee, and tea were served to provide the time for fellowship. This was followed by a video session with praise and worship song, with 2 small group discussions to finish the night. The small group discussions were such a joy to be part of as that was the special time to open and share freely with no judgement in an inviting and supportive environment. That allowed all of us to be ourselves and learn from all those arounds us as well get encouragement and understanding.

The success was with no doubt due to the team’s dedication to prayer and preparation together before running Alpha. We allowed the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide so that our participants would also be able to experience the same. Letting the Holy Spirit do his thing and letting us be his instruments was truly the secret ingredient.

Looking forward to hosting Alpha at St. Gertrude’s again as we truly believe this tool is a great way to connect and open the doors to both Non-Christians and Christians alike. We all learned so much about our Christian faith and had a blast making new friends in the process. I encourage you all to consider running Alpha as the feedback we received was very positive.

Find an Alpha near you.