The Alpha Course is a 13-week class on the basics of Christianity. It doesn't exclusively come from any denomination - but it originated in England at the Holy Trinity Brompton Church.
It covers topics such as, "Who is Jesus?" "Why and how should we pray" and "How do we know the Bible is true." There is also a 2-3 tape teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit that is designed to be done as a weekend retreat.
The concept of the Alpha Course is twofold: relationship building, and teaching on Christianity. It usually starts with a meal, so people have a chance to just talk and get to know each other. Then there's a 1/2 hour teaching tape each week, followed by a time for group discussion.
It's designed for just about anyone - new Christians, people who just have questions about God and Christianity, people who have been Christians for a long time, but want to "brush up" so they can witness to friends (a lot of them bring their friends to Alpha to learn and meet with other people in the same boat)...
I think they have a web site, although I don't know the exact URL...you can Google it and it will pop up, though!!
Thanks for posting the info P.M. Dh went to an intro meeting on Alpha in June. We will be having a training on the course in November. I had no idea that the teaching on the baptism in the Holy Spirit was part of the course & I'm pleasantly surprised. You see, all churches in Bay County were invited to the first meeting. The people bringing the course in are not "traditionally" pentecostal/charasmatic. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, only 2 of the pastors there were from "traditional" pentecostal/charasmatic churces, including dh. So I think this is awesome.
Obviously, whatever church is doing the course puts their own "spin" on it.
The charismatic church I attended when I first heard of Alpha explained during the small group time that one CAN be filled with the Holy Spirit and not speak in tongues, where the church I attend now (A/G) explains our distinctive that tongues are the initial physical evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Not sure how other denominations would handle that - I guess some who don't believe it's for today would just skip that particular teaching...
