Invitation: How to start
PRAY TOGETHER
PREPARE YOUR TEAMS
PLAN YOUR INTRODUCTORY DINNER
PROMOTE ALPHA
Pray together
Prayer is the foundation of the Alpha Invitation. We encourage churches to prayerfully consider getting involved with running Alpha and the Invitation.
Plan a local prayer meeting to pray for your Alpha Courses and community. Invite other Alpha churches to participate. The “Dynamic Prayer in the Local Church” DVD and training material will help you find out more about the vision and models for corporate and dynamic prayer.
For more prayer information - Planning a Prayer Event, Worship Ideas, Prayer Models and more, click here.
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Prepare your teams
When Alpha is running well, guests are more likely to complete the course and invite friends to come along. Preparing for Alpha is crucial. No matter what size church or course you have, you can follow a clear recipe laid out by Alpha that has proven over time to work.
There are three main types of training:
Leader's training
To get the most out of Alpha, make sure group leaders and helpers are trained before every course. Even those who have facilitated conversations at the tables on Alpha before will find it valuable - both to refresh their memory and to meet others who are helping on that course. Why not get together with other churches and hold a joint Leaders' Training Event - this can be fun and an effective way to train and share experiences.
There is a Leader's Training DVD and guide available to use for training teams to run Alpha: 'Leading Small Groups'; 'Pastoral Care'; and 'Ministry on Alpha'. These talks are available on video or can be given by a local speaker link to Alpha training resources.
Another great resource to help leaders is to become a member of Alpha Connected and access the Building Better Alpha Courses Library.
One Day Local Training Days
Please click on the link to find local training events near you. Also check regional websites for local information.
Conferences
These exciting National Conferences will be the chance to equip your teams with the tools they need to run effective Alpha Courses.
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Plan your introductory dinner
The Introductory Alpha Dinner can take the form of picnics, barbeques, banquets, tea parties, coffee mornings - whatever will work best for your guests and your team. The aim is to have a relaxed, low-key event to which people can bring their friends, family, neighbors and colleagues.
After a great dinner, perhaps with live music, guests hear testimonies of those who have done Alpha and hear the Alpha talk: 'Is there more to life than this?'. At the end of the talk free copies of 'Why Jesus?' can be handed out and an invitation extended to the Alpha Course.
Why not join with other churches in your area and host a fun event in an imaginative venue?
We recommend that you hold your dinners for the fall courses in the third week of September.
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Promote Alpha
Publicity campaigns raise awareness and create a backdrop against which it is easy to invite someone to Alpha and for them to accept an invitation.
One leaflet through a door won't necessarily get someone on an Alpha Course (although this has happened), but a leaflet combined with posters, newspaper advertisements and a personal invitation is a very effective way of inviting friends, family, neighbors and colleagues to Alpha.
How many posters, signs and car stickers can you put up? Churches have some of the best (and most under-utilized) advertising spaces in most towns. Let's make the most of this strategic opportunity as we move into planning for 2009.
1) Involve your congregation.
- Encourage people to invite their friends, family, neighbors and colleagues along to the introductory Alpha dinner.
- Equip the congregation with the tools to personally invite friends – invitations, business cards.
- Other ways to raise the visibility of the Alpha Course include: car magnets, placing posters at work or in local coffee shops, getting together with other churches that run Alpha and have a float in your local town parade, or even getting the screen saver.
2) Spread the word to other churches.
Are you already part of a network of churches? This is a fantastic opportunity to reach out to your community together. Encourage other churches to join you by either starting their own Alpha Course or helping with promotions (putting up posters, car magnets, etc).
3) Invite your community!
 Billboards, bus tails, movie theater ads, floats in the local town parade - whatever works best for your community to raise awareness of the Alpha Course on a larger scale. The photo to the left is an Alpha poster in a Chicago Metra commuter train.
Monica's story is a great encouragement and testimony for the way God can use the promotional pieces in the Invitation.
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