Inside Alpha by James Heard
UK church attendance hemorrhaging and one course is hailed as the most effective tool for turning back the tide. From small beginnings in the early 1970s, Alpha has grown to become a global success. Churches from across the denominational spectrum have enthusiastically seized upon the course, seeing it as the remedy for declining church attendance. Inside Alpha explores such claims through richly grounded qualitative research on six Alpha courses. It assesses Alpha's primary aim of converting non-churchgoers and its longer-term goal of spiritual maturity (Colossians 1:28-29). It questions whether the Alpha program is as successful as it claims at uniting evangelism and discipleship, mission and spiritual formation. This is an invaluable study for those--in the academy and the church--who have an interest in ecclesiology and mission. How exactly is one to understand conversion? What is it to be Christian? How does ambiguity and doubt fit within one's journey of faith? The importance of this work is in discovering--through an engagement with Alpha--how people might appropriately be initiated into and discipled within the Christian faith in contemporary culture.
James Heard is a Public Programmes Manager at the National Portrait gallery and a practicing artist. He is an established art critic and well recognised by museum curators for his skill in accurately reconstructing impressionist techniques, particularly those of Monet. He is a regular speaker and lecturer internationally and had made a number of educational videaos, especially in conjunction with the National Gallery series, 'Art in the Making'.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781608994502 |
| ISBN 10 | 1608994503 |
| Title | Inside Alpha |
| Author | James Heard |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Wipf & Stock Publishers |
| Year published | 2012-06-01 |
| Number of pages | 286 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |