A message from the Executive Director
Launchpad!
2023 was EMENA’s ‘launchpad’ as we embarked on Alpha’s new 10-year vision: “Alpha for everyone” by 2033.
Nicky & Pippa Gumbel launched the vision at the Garden Tomb, Jerusalem, on a beautiful Easter Sunday in April. Few would have imagined how only months later the year would end in military conflict. Despite not just one but three wars – in Ukraine, Yemen and Gaza – the gospel is still advancing through Alpha. The Great Commission, to take Jesus to everyone, doesn’t stop, and we see these ‘shakings’ leading to a greater harvest. In 2023, the church in its many forms was at work, bravely and prayerfully, using Alpha and The Marriage Courses in 67 countries across Europe and the Middle East, from Ireland to Israel; Iceland to Iraq.
We saw growth of 50,000 (24%) to 251,000 participants in this first year of the vision, delivered by nearly 6,000 churches and over 1,000 organisations. Our next staging post is to double over the next 5 years to see 500,000 people doing Alpha. We are excited to have seen 45% growth in participants in the Catholic context (now 33% of all courses), enabled by investment in church-facing leadership staff (SCRBs). We believe this will continue to grow and our long-term aim is for half of our courses to be in the Catholic context.
Youth Alpha is growing – up to 39% of all courses, from 36% in 2022. With the launch of the new Alpha Youth Series in the coming year we want to go younger, and help the church reach ‘Gen Alpha’, so by 2027 we are planning for 50% of our courses to be Alpha Youth, with every country having a paid Youth lead equipping the next generation.
Read on to find out where and how this acceleration happened in 2023, made possible by your generous ongoing prayer, provision and support.
In 2023…
Alpha Youth
In 2023, 97,000 teenagers participated in 4,800 Alphas in countries as diverse as Egypt, Lithuania, and Kazakhstan. This represented a 34% increase in participants over 2022, driven by larger course sizes mainly in Catholic majority countries, and 28% growth in course numbers.
Countries that grew by over 1,000 participants were Romania, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Ireland. Two of the drivers of this growth are the focus on Alpha linked to equipping young people for Confirmation in a parish context, and a move to run more Alphas in schools while ‘the door’ is still open in many parts of Europe. In Egypt an amazing 3,500 young people did Alpha in 2023.
By the end of 2023, 39% of all Alphas in EMENA reached teenagers (2022, 36%), and this is the launchpad for our target of 50% of Alphas reaching teenagers by 2028.
To enable this to keep multiplying and see a potential 5 million young people reached in our 67 countries, we need new investment to recruit a new generation of dedicated Youth staff in 10 key countries in 2024. These countries will drive growth and act as ‘hubs’ that support smaller countries, as we prepare to launch and roll out the new Alpha Youth Series 3.0 (AYS 3.0) in late 2024 and 2025.
World Youth Day 2023
We were so excited to be part of World Youth Day (WYD) in August, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal. WYD is a Global event hosted by the Pope every 3 years, which gathers over a million young people and youth leaders as an “opportunity to personally experience the universality of the Catholic Church.”
As a group of 20 European staff and volunteers, we represented Alpha with a stall in the vocational square, which allowed us to distribute Alpha booklets (in several languages) and have great conversations with hundreds of young people and leaders. Thanks to generous donors, including our own National Alpha Offices, we also distributed large quantities of fun Alpha merchandise including hats, bracelets, beach balls and frisbees, to increase brand awareness. To connect people to their local Alpha offices, we provided a QR code with the relevant NAO website, and throughout the week 1,689 people filled out the form to ‘find out more’ about Alpha!
Thanks to a local Catholic ‘Hub’ church in Lisbon, we were also able to host ‘Experience Alpha’ sessions, which gave key leaders and youth groups a taste of what a typical session looks like. This was a great opportunity to have more in-depth conversations and answer questions.
We are hugely encouraged by the opportunities that WYD created for Alpha and are hoping to maximise the impact of these in 2024, particularly with the new Alpha Youth Series 3.0 just around the corner!
Alpha Youth Series 3.0
The EMENA region has played a pivotal role in the preparation for the upcoming Alpha Youth Series 3.0 (AYS), actively engaging in various aspects of the production. Dez Johnston, EMENA’s Alpha Youth Director, has been working closely with members of the regional team and Youth leads in our National Offices, ensuring that the product will meet the needs of our region and reach as many young people in Europe & MENA as possible. Contributions include scriptwriting, story provision, marketing development, and consultations on both style and content. Notably, the first press of the record button took place at World Youth Day, reflecting the region’s commitment and importance to creating a diverse and impactful product that will see millions of lives changed!
Middle East & North Africa
It has been a blessing this year to grow our operational and ministry capacity in the Middle East & North Africa.
In 2023 we grew our team to over 30 people and opened Alpha offices in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan, thanks to generous funding received from donors. Alpha ran in 20 countries in the MENA region. In the Gulf, around 10,000 participants attended 400 Alphas. We have also begun conversations around developing a fully contextualised Middle East Alpha Film Series (MAFS) and a partially contextualised Alpha Youth Series (AYS) which will have a huge impact within the region.
We are excited to begin the journey of exploring with our ministry partners what this will look like, to reach this pivotal region with God’s love.
Following the earthquake that struck Turkey in February, and the ongoing war in Gaza, work has not been without its challenges, but it has been so encouraging to hear stories of hope and of how God continues to move in MENA.
One such story is of GoChurch, based in Beirut, Lebanon, who launched an exciting new marketing campaign and strategy for their upcoming Alpha courses. As well as social media posts and handing out printed flyers, they have featured large billboards across three locations in Beirut! Having run seven Alpha courses last year, Alpha has been an instrumental tool in their church and ministry.
Strategic Partnerships
in the Catholic Church
In 2023, we saw a remarkable 45% growth in the Catholic Context in EMENA! We continue to see doors opening for Alpha in the Catholic Church and are witnessing fruit from numerous partnerships with churches and organisations across the region. We are thrilled to see the fruits of our work with Divine Renovation and the opportunity our joint webinars bring to the Catholic community, with over 300 church leaders joining from EMENA last year. Alpha and DR work hand in hand in many European countries to bring about parish renewal, seeking pastoral transformation and walking alongside the church in its mission of building missionary disciples. At the end of 2023, Alpha and DR conducted a joint workshop at the Inspira Congress in Barcelona.
In February we also attended the International Gathering of leaders, organised by Global2033, which gathered more than 100 leaders from different Catholic organisations. In November, our Director of Catholic Development also represented Alpha at the Charis International event in Rome, ‘Called, transformed, and sent’, which spoke about unity and included Nicky Gumbel and Pope Francis as speakers.
Alpha for Church Planting
From the 10th-12th October, we premiered our new ‘Alpha for Church Planting’ video and guide at the Exponential Europe Conference in Berlin, Germany. Revd Sarah Jackson, Director of Revitalise Trust, was a key speaker and shared on the church planting experience of using Alpha in the HTB Network, which has grown to over 150 new churches. These fresh resources have been welcomed, opening doors to growing partnerships and working with European planting networks such as M4 Intercultural Church Planters (ICP), and are also being promoted through our NAOs. It is an ‘open secret’ that for many years, many churches in the UK were planted through Alpha, but in continental Europe the word is just starting to get out, and we expect a fresh wave of growth as the resources are shared at events and conferences across Europe in 2024.
Welcoming church leaders to
HTB & Alpha
Throughout the year we were pleased to welcome over 350 influential church and ministry leaders from Europe and the Middle East to HTB for Experience Alpha and Alpha Collective events. These gatherings take place twice a year and are a key part of the EMENA strategy, providing a ‘come and see’ space for our National Offices to bring strategic church leaders. Experience Alpha gathers leaders who want to find out more about Alpha and learn about the impact it can have in their church and community; Alpha Collective invites churches who are already running Alpha to partner with us as ‘Hub churches’, creating a multiplication effect in their denomination, network or city.
With a warm welcome from Archie Coates, Vicar of HTB, and his wife Sam, session topics included leading for mission, Youth, what is happening in the Global Church, and invitational culture. With a large Catholic presence at Alpha Collective in October, we were also able to offer Strategic Catholic ancillary events, including a visit to a Catholic Hub church in Richmond.
One church leader said that the “focus on prayer and the Holy Spirit’s work, coupled with helpful content, surrounded with amazing hospitality and kindness was all clearly inspired, directed, and empowered by God.”
We look forward to welcoming more leaders to HTB in 2024!
Leadership Conference was a high point in our year, as we welcomed over 1,000 delegates from across the region to the Royal Albert Hall in London, with 250 strategic leaders coming from Sweden alone! LC is an opportunity for all of God’s people – across traditions, generations, and cultures – to gather as one, encounter Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and be inspired to run Alpha.
As we look to LC24, we are full of expectation to see what God will do as leaders gather from across the Global Church.
Sign up for LC24 here.
NAO Conference Highlights
Alpha Italy
Alpha Italy’s first ever National conference in Rimini was a sell-out in September, with 300 participants signed up and a waiting list for next year!
The conference, which included worship from a young and diverse group of under 18s, was a highlight for the team and, with the younger generation being the focus of the event, it was amazing to see 17-year-old Sofia as one of the key speakers.
It was an inspiring day, showcasing Alpha’s transformative power in Italian churches, through great stories and testimonies, and displaying the beauty of unity across denominations.
Alpha Poland
In April, Alpha Poland facilitated an Alpha conference hosted by Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś, from the Diocese of Łódź.
Nearly 300 people attended the event, and a highlight was Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś’ interview with Nicky Gumbel, speaking on the importance of parishes having a missionary mindset, as well as a powerful testimony from Fr. James Mallon from Divine Renovation.
Alpha Netherlands
Twice a year, Alpha Netherlands host their annual Training & Inspiration Day, which gathers influential church pastors and Alpha leaders to worship and pray together, as well as attend seminars that re-envision them as they lead Alpha in the local church and community. Over 600 guests attended the last conference in September, and work is underway for the next one in March 2024.
Alpha Germany
To kick-off ‘Vision 2033’, Alpha Germany hosted an inspiring event in March.
Over 100 partners travelled from all over Germany to be at the event and experience a time of praise, worship, and encouragement. By the end, all were invited to become part of ‘Vision 2033’, for everyone, everywhere, to have the opportunity to explore faith through Alpha by 2033.
Watch the highlights here.
Alpha Sweden
Alpha Sweden held their first regional conference in October, which was well attended and covered various topics including ‘planting missional communities into socio-economically exposed areas with Alpha’.
Alpha’s 2033 Vision, for everyone, everywhere, to have the opportunity to explore faith through Alpha by 2033 was also shared, and Emma Bergkvist, Sweden’s new Alpha Youth Director, spoke about reaching Gen Z, emphasising the importance of connecting with the next generation as part of this vision.
Alpha Romania
The Marriage Course continues to be a great resource alongside Alpha, and in October, Alpha Romania ran a Marriage Course conference.
On the first night, 300 church leaders gathered to worship, pray and be encouraged, and the following day the conference continued with amazing enthusiasm. Nicky and Sila Lee, authors of The Marriage Book, were also there to share, and the event proved to be a great success. We pray for the lasting impact that TMC will continue to provide across the region.
NAO Strategy and Leadership Development
Building on the success of the Alpha Global Emerging Leaders Cohort, a 2-year leadership development initiative which 10 emerging NAO-based leaders from EMENA participated in, and which celebrated its conclusion in the autumn of 2023, we began to consider how we could best invest in wider NAO leadership development in the coming 2 years, and develop the culture and skills required for Vision 2033. In 2024, we have made the strategic decision to gather in sub-regional cohorts, based on language and context, rather than coming together as the whole region of EMENA. This will allow us to accelerate leadership development, strategic planning, and sharing best practices that meet the needs of our National Offices for the next 5 years, encouraging greater collaboration between countries and maximising resources.
In 2023, our initial steps were to pilot this approach in the Nordic region with two strategy cohorts, in the MENA region with one online cohort, and also gathered as the EMENA regional team in the Netherlands in September this year for 3 days of strategic planning and leadership development. This allowed us to work together to ensure a clear strategy heading into the new year, but also to test and develop a robust structure for the upcoming sub-regional cohorts which will be rolled out in 2024 for the Eastern Europe, South-West Europe and DACH sub-regions.
We are excited to see the fruits of further cohorts scheduled over the next 2 years.
Budget
Includes all regional team costs and NAO grants, plus World Youth Day and Middle East & North Africa specified donations.