Alpha

The Office of Evangelization & Discipleship wants to support your parish in evangelization. One great program to accomplish this is Alpha. Alpha is an eleven-week series exploring the Christian faith. Each talk looks at different questions around faith and is designed to create conversation between participants. Each session begins with a meal, features a 25-minute video followed by a small group discussion. The course also includes a day-long retreat held around the the seventh week, and in 2027 the Office of Evangelization will host one for all Alpha groups meeting in parishes on Saturday, March 20 from 9:00am-3:00pm.

How Can We Get Involved?

If you think Alpha will work in your parish, this fall will be the time to plan, promote, and build your group to start meeting in January 2027. This schedule will allow your group to be ready for the retreat held on March 20. 

The Office of Evangelization will host an Alpha Training Session on Wednesday, November 4 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Anyone who will be on the hosting team is invited to attend this training, fill out the interest form below to keep up to date on the details!

What Does Planning Look Like?

This is our suggestion for what you should consider while planning Alpha groups to start in Winter/Spring of 2027. The goal would be to decide the following items and build your team in the Fall/Winter of 2026:

• Invite a team of 8-10 parishioners to be on the Alpha team, with one to be the Host who focuses on welcoming, facilitating, and keeping the meeting on time.
• Attend the November 4 training with your team. A second training will be offered later in November for any unable to come to the November 4 date.
• Plan your Alpha calendar by deciding what night of the week to meet and the location. For example, you can plan to meet on Thursdays from 6:00-8:00pm. One suggestion would be to build in a snow day in the schedule January-March. 
• Organize your kitchen team who will be in charge of planning and serving the meal.
• Promote Alpha throughout the parish and personally invite people to join the group.

Sessions would start in January to be on track to join in on the March retreat day. At the end of the series, personally invite anyone who participated in the program you think would do well and be willing to help host the next Alpha series at your parish.

How Can I Learn More or Join the Training?

If you want to learn more, or join in on the November training, just fill out the interest form below. You can also personally reach out to Dr. Jeff Andrini, Director of Evangelization, at jeff.andrini@pastoral.org