About Alpha

We are by the Church, for the Church and through the Church

Alpha began at a church called Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) in London in 1977 it was taken by Nicky Gumbel in 1990 and repositioned as a course for those outside the church. The number of people attending Alpha at HTB grew quickly into the hundreds and attracted the attention of other churches across denominations seeking to find an effective tool for evangelism.

This led to the first Alpha conference in 1993 at HTB where over 1000 church leaders attended to learn about Alpha and how to use it in their congregation. As interest grew Alpha conferences were organised internationally and the original Alpha Film Series was filmed in 1994 to make it accessible to the widest possible audience.

Now all over the world millions of people have tried Alpha and it has been translated into 112 different languages. The Alpha Talks have been repackaged for today’s audience in the Alpha Film Series and the Alpha Youth Series was created to reach a younger generation with the Gospel. Even as times have changed, the Alpha course has continued to be used by the Church as an effective tool to reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are passionate about unity

The Alpha Course is created to emphasise the essentials that all denominations agree on. We believe that what unites us is infinitely greater than what divides us. The Alpha Course is an effective form of evangelism when done by and through the local church. By focusing on the essentials of the Christian faith, it opens the door for Alpha to be used in almost any context so that everyone has the opportunity to see their friends’ lives transformed by the Gospel.

We believe the Church deserves the best

Our goal is to continually support the church with resources and tools that help create a space where people are excited to bring their friends for a conversation about Jesus. The Alpha Film Series and Alpha Youth Series were designed to take guests on a journey of faith over multiple weeks. Each session covers a key element of the Gospel in a way that is easy to follow and leaves space for people to explore their questions about life, faith and God.

We give it all away

Alpha is free for the church and we encourage churches to make it free for guests. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to explore life and the Christian faith wherever they are in the world at no cost. Alpha is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on the generosity of donors to be able to provide Alpha resources for free.