Alpha's History

Alpha began in 1976 as a discussion group in the living room of Charles Marnham, a clergyman at an Anglican Church in London called Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB).  Charles had a desire to

Nicky Gumbel

reach others around him with the simple truths of the Christian faith.  He began looking for a means of presenting the basic principles of the Christian faith to new Christians in a relaxed and informal setting.  With this goal in mind, he devised the concept of the Alpha course.

When Marnham moved on, others led the course and made their own changes.  By the time Nicky Gumbel took over Alpha in 1990, the course was a central feature of HTB's life, with nearly 100 participants involved in each session.

Nicky quickly made a discovery that transformed the church's whole approach to the Alphacourse and gave it a new dynamic.  As he observed the 13 members of his small group, he realized that 10 of the members were non-churchgoers.  After a stormy first six weeks, which included many complex questions about the Christian faith, all 10 announced their new commitment to Jesus at the weekend away.

The experience transformed Nicky's thinking about Alpha.  He realized how this simple course on the basic priniciples of Christianity could become a powerful medium for evangelism.  Nicky eagerly tailored the course to be especially attractive to the average person "off the street".

In 1997, Nicky asked Dr. Alistair Hanna to set up an Alpha office in the United States.  The goal was to introduce and support both the development of new Alpha courses and to maintain the commitment of established courses.  Alpha USA, based in New York City, coordinates the publication and distribution of Alpha resources, organizes Alpha conferences to train new Alpha teams, and promotes and encourages Alpha courses on a regional and national level.

Since arriving in the U.S., Alpha has experienced extraordinary growth.  As of January 2006, there are nearly 7,600 courses registered in the Alpha Course Directory, which includes every state and spans many denominations.  It is estimated that 6.7 million people worldwide have completed an Alpha course in the last 10 years, and there are currently more than 30,000 courses registered in 153 countries.  Resources are available in 61 languages and Braille.