Alpha at Welcome Church
EXCITING ALPHA NEWS AT WELCOME CHURCH!
At Welcome Church in Woking, we’ve been running Alpha Courses for years, but over time, I noticed that the excitement around them began to fade. A few people would hear about upcoming courses and take a few flyers to invite friends. But most people seemed to keep their head down thinking, “I’m not going to invite anyone – they’ll stop talking about Alpha soon!”
This was a real shame because our Alpha Courses had so much to offer. They were warm, friendly, and welcoming environments where guests felt at home—and many went on incredible journeys of faith. Just one story that stands out is Ray, a molecular biologist and biochemist. When he joined Alpha last year, he was a sceptic. But by the end of the course, he asked to be prayed for to be filled with the Holy Spirit during the Alpha Saturday and ultimately got baptised!
The challenge, however, was that Alpha was a bit of a “hidden gem” within our church. Many people didn’t realize that Alpha was a fun, friendly, and inspiring place for their friends to explore faith. For a church that welcomes around 1,000 people on a Sunday, we were seeing an average of just 27 guests per Alpha Course—far fewer than we’d hoped.
A TURNAROUND IN SEPTEMBER
In September last year, we launched two things:
1. Preaching Series on Loving People Towards Jesus:
This series built faith across the church that God has plans to draw all sorts of people to Himself—through each of us.
2. Taste of Alpha Sessions:
We invited Christians in our church to experience Alpha firsthand. We offered 4 “Taste of Alpha” sessions, where they could see for themselves what Alpha was all about and understand how it could be a place for their friends to explore faith. The response was overwhelming—350 people attended, leaving full of food and faith!
THE RESULT
The impact was amazing. Our TRY ALPHA evening in October—a launch night to invite new people to Alpha—saw 122 guests attending!
By the end of the course, 109 guests had completed the Alpha journey, and 12 signed up for our upcoming DISCOVER BAPTISM session, as they weigh up a decision to get baptised as followers of Jesus!
In March, we launched our next Alpha Course, and 76 guests attended—another encouraging sign of growth and momentum.
It’s been incredible to witness our church embracing the vision for Alpha in a new way. The transformation has been significant: Jesus is drawing all sorts of people to Him, one meal, one video, and one conversation at a time.
