The alpha course, so what's it all about and how did it change my life?

Ok well, let's tell you a little bit about me, I'm a 21 year old male, just in a new career. I was raised in a Christian country but I would not class my self as Christian. On one of those surveys you get through the post and it has all of those tickie boxes asking about your religion I would tick either other or Jedi.

I never gave Christianity much thought, I always believed in something up there but never knew what, and I was happy with that. That was until a close friend of mine suggested that I went to church with her to see what it was all about.

Now I was a bit apprehensive as my only knowledge of church was back in school going every Christmas to sing carols. Wow that was fun so I didn't expect too much from this. Still I went and the people were kind of welcoming and surprisingly normal people. I enjoyed myself with them but there was still one thing missing.

I did not have a clue what they were going on about. God? Jesus? The Holy Spirit? Are they talking about ghosts? This meant nothing to me, I picked up small bits but I needed a crash course to understand why all these people were so happy.

Then my friend told me about the Alpha Course! Great, the thing I wanted, a beginners course for adults. So I went.

Yes I admit I was scared at first, what if I did not agree, what if I thought it was all a load of rubbish, what if the people tried to convert me. I had a lot of questions and I knew that they would find them stupid. Who is Jesus? How do you read the Bible? Why do people go to church? But I took the step, went and asked all my stupid questions, and to my surprise they not only answered them but encouraged me to ask more.

Now I did the 10 week course as best as I could due to work commitments. And now I'm attending other courses, not only participating in the course but also helping out. This is how it changed my life.

I was asked to write this for the web site just to explain about Alpha. Well there you have it, I once was just like you, happy with my understanding of faith, had questions but did not need to ask them. It's often said it's good to do something that scares and challenges you. So why not give it a shot what's the worst thing that could happen? People are there at Alpha to be argued with, to listen to your opinions, and if you're willing to listen back you could stand to gain a lot. It could even change your life. This was my journey, I enjoyed it and now I am a changed man, for the better.

This is your life, you choose how to live it. All I would suggest is that you give up one night and see what happens.

Neil, a Christian 2005