Progressive Episcopalians have begun test-marketing a revamped version of the popular Alpha course that organizers say can harness publicity over an openly gay bishop to bring people into the church. Some 15 Episcopal congregations across the country were the first to use the “via media” (middle way) eight-week curriculum in February.
At an Alpha training conference in Detroit, a dozen people came forward to testify to the power of the Alpha program. One couple had been close to divorce when they encountered Alpha. The course inspired them to salvage their marriage and become active in a church. A young man said he had tried various spiritual paths, including “the cult route,” until through Alpha he found Christian friends and a direction that “fits.” An Alpha leader in his 40s talked about episodes of violence, about failed marriages and about the years of estrangement from his family.