Nicky Gumbel and the future of Alpha

Whatever you think about Nicky Gumbel it’s hard to deny he’s a sincere and passionate man. And whatever you think about Alpha it’s hard not to be impressed by the statistics (18 million people have been through Alpha worldwide and the day we interviewed Nicky 900 people turned up at his church to take part in the course).

So why do so many people have an aversion to Alpha (myself included)?

I think for me it’s the ‘off-the-shelf’ nature of the course. When we asked Nicky, he seemed to think that Alpha was culturally relevant even though it’s been around now for over 20 years and is used in cultures across the world. He pointed to the universal cultural relevancy of the course’s emphasis on communal eating, drinking and discussion. Of course there is truth in this (although I’d argue that even in this country these are quite middle-class pastimes), but there’s a lot more to Alpha than this.

Alpha, for example, presents the gospel using quite traditional ‘Christian’ language and the DVDs do this from within an Anglican church with everyone sitting in rows quietly listening to a leader on a stage. Of course there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, it’s just that it’s a very specific and culture bound presentation of the gospel.

I don’t have a problem with Alpha per se. My problem is more the lazy way people use it. I’m sure Alpha can be a powerful tool in certain setting, but it concerns me that thousands of churches in radically different cultures around the world have come to the conclusion that it’s the best way for them to present the gospel. How can it be the answer for all of them?

Surely we should assume nothing when considering how to present our faith in our own unique cultural contexts? We need to be praying, listening, watching, hanging out and asking questions before we can even know what the ‘good news’ is for our community, let alone how to communicate it. It may well be that Alpha is the most culturally relevant presentation of the gospel for some groups of people. But I find it hard to believe that it was the most culturally relevant presentation of the gospel for all the 18 million people who have already done it.

Tim

Phil Togwell and prayer spaces in schools

It’s Phil Togwell’s turn on Nomad Extra this month.

About four years ago Phil and others at 24/7 Prayer sensed God drawing their attention to some stories about prayer rooms being set up in schools. They investigated further and decided that this was indeed a God thing. They responded by launching ‘Prayer Spaces in Schools’, an initiative that is spreading across the country.

It’s a fascinating and inspiring story. So download the podcast to find out more! 

Happy birthday Nomad!

It’s hard to believe that Nomad was born three years ago.

I daren’t listen back to that first episode; I suspect it sounds painfully amateurish! I can though remember the fear as I picked up the phone for my first ever interview. Tom Wright was great at putting me at my ease, but still the heart was pounding. And recording our first reflection was agony. When Nick pressed record we all just fell silent, we didn’t have a clue what to say. We tried again, and this time we just rambled on about how disillusioned we were with church. I seem to recall the third recording was better, but still pretty wooden!

As I look back over the three years of Nomadic wanderings, the main thing that stands out is how our personal faith journey has been shaped by the podcast. We’ve never just interviewed people for the sake of a good interview. We’ve chosen people who we hoped would be able to speak into the issues we’re currently wrestling with. Our hope is that you might be wrestling with similar issues and so find the interviews as helpful as we do.

We hope Nomad podcast as been as much a blessing to you as it has been to us.

Thanks for sticking with us we really do appreciate it. It’s great to know we’re not on this journey alone.

Tim

Ps. Thanks to three of our local listeners, Rachel, Heidi and Paul, for joining us last night for a little birthday celebration! 

Pete Ward and Liquid Church

We had an interesting chat with Pete Ward on the podcast this month. Among many other things, he’s the author of Liquid Church.

I really liked his emphasis on new more fluid forms of church and mission, while not dismissing older and more solid forms. In fact he spoke very positively about institutional church and how the resources they have are important for the bringing to birth of the new.

Having said that, he took the idea of liquid church and mission further than I felt comfortable with.

I liked his idea of a flow of communicative resources that people can pick up on and how we need to trust in God and that we don’t always have to be the mediators of God to people. I did feel, however, that Pete was taking these ideas a bit too far.

Pete suggested, for example, that even relational contact might not be necessary. But surely relational contact is the heartbeat of Christian mission? Can people find a whole-life transforming relationship with God from individual, isolated spiritual experiences? It’s possible I guess, but surely on-going relational contact (discipleship) has always and necessarily formed the foundation for Jesus-centred transformation.

Some interesting ideas though, and plenty to dialogue with. 

Nomad Extra 16: Simon Hall and Revive

Nomad found themselves in Leeds again recently and so thought they’d catch up with Simon Hall for a little Nomad Extra bonus interview for you. Simon is a founding member of the Revive community, which started out as a group of young, arty adults, looking to do church and mission differently.

The thing that really stood out for me, as Simon was telling us his story, was how over the years the community has adapted to many internal and external changes. They started out with a vision, but they weren’t slaves to it, and they’ve allowed God and each other to shape and reshape community life.

I’m the sort of guy who likes a plan, so I felt really challenged by Revive’s flexibility and openness to change.

I’ve often been guilty of limiting the Spirit’s role to that of Comforter, but I’m increasingly seeing that a key part of what the Spirit does is to act as the Unsettler. It’s the Spirit who keeps us on our toes, keeps us moving, changing and adapting, if we remain open to him. 

In response to this, I’ve built in a weekly prayer slot where I lay everything before God, all my plans and agendas, and try and be open to the fact that God might want me to change something, or indeed give everything up, and do something else.