Alpha USA’s 2023 Fall Report

2023 FALL REPORT

January – September

GOOD NEWS IN A GOOD WAY

Because of your generous support and faithful prayers, Alpha USA has continued to provide the resources and training necessary for churches and ministries to share Alpha with their communities at no cost. We desire for everyone, everywhere, to have the chance to hear the good news of Jesus in a good way. Your support is helping people discover and develop a relationship with Jesus, which positively impacts families, churches and parishes, communities, and the world.

We are very excited to innovate with new resources to help others create safe spaces for people to explore faith. We are currently working on a brand-new Alpha Youth Series, which we plan to release in 2024, and a new Alpha Film Series planned for release in 2025. Alpha isn't just a resource provider; we also equip and serve the Church in how to create the right type of space where people can feel comfortable to open up and explore faith.

During the first three quarters of 2023, the number of churches and ministries running Alpha increased by an estimated 14 percent in the U.S. More than 6,900 churches and ministries have provided opportunities for over 411,600 participants to encounter Jesus through the more than 13,500 Alphas run around the country since January.

We are so grateful to God to be on this mission together with you. We need each other to spread the love and message of Jesus to the ends of the Earth, and we are thankful for your partnership in this important ministry.

ALPHA YOUTH

God has blessed the global ministry of Alpha Youth this year, and we are thankful for your part in supporting this vital outreach to teens. Generations Z and Alpha are asking different questions than those before them, and Alpha is creating new resources to engage preteens and teens with the good news of Jesus, helping them discover and develop a relationship with him.

A new Alpha Youth Film Series is in production, set to be released in 2024. The Alpha Youth team has been hard at work writing new episodes, gathering stories, and filming new street interviews

TRAINING CHURCHES

6,167 Leaders trained

2,900 Ministries represented

around the world. This series will feature younger hosts, more diversity, and is designed to reach the youngest among Gen Z and the rising Gen Alpha with the gospel.

The Alpha YTH Collective (AYC) launched this year, bringing more than 250 youth leaders together to date to envision a new kind of future in youth ministry. These events, hosted in different cities nationwide, provide opportunities for young leaders to learn ways to create a healthy culture, engage the Holy Spirit in prayer, and learn from one another.

Alpha Youth also launched the Circles + Spaces Leadership Cohort, created to prepare youth leaders for mission through connection, collaboration, competency, and culture. This five-month cohort brings together 20-50 youth leaders at a time for peer learning and expert coaching.

Alpha Youth Elements is a new product from Alpha Youth, providing youth leaders with a comprehensive resource to contextualize Alpha Youth for their specific ministry. The resource includes customizable talk scripts, videos, and discussion guides, allowing users to personalize the content and enhance the experience for students.

2,316 Churches and ministries that ran Alpha Youth

4,007 Alpha Youth courses run

115,907 Alpha Youth participants

165 Training events

ALPHA PRISONS & REENTRY

Coming out of a challenging season due to the pandemic, Alpha’s prison ministry has been able to reenter many of the prisons we previously served and is developing partnerships to expand into new areas. We are thankful incarcerated people will be able to attend Alpha again and hear the message of forgiveness and freedom that Jesus offers us all.

Our team hosted various training events, both in person and virtually, to meet the demand to equip churches and ministries to run Alpha. We offered opportunities for individuals to prepare to lead Alpha and Alpha Youth, run The Marriage Course, serve as a coach, or create a culture of hospitality in their congregations.

302 Prisons that ran Alpha 567 Alpha courses run in a prison

11,340 Participants

– SEPTEMBER 2023.

After years of poor decisions, Danny was sentenced to 45 years in prison. One day he was praying, and he felt like God said,

Danny now runs Alpha Youth for at-risk teens in inner-city Indianapolis.

I want you to go back into the same kind of communities that you once helped destroy, and I want you to start to rebuild them."

Alpha created a three-week experience titled ever wonder? as an entryway into spiritual conversations with people who are curious about faith. Participants can join a small, informal group for discussions about life and faith and watch videos that address the questions, “Am I loved?”; “Do I belong?”; and “Does my life have meaning?” ever wonder? was designed as a bridge for those who might see an ad but who are not yet ready to dive into the deeper topics of faith introduced in an Alpha course. Experiencing ever wonder? allows them to become acquainted with Alpha before committing to the longer series, and many have joined a local or online Alpha after experiencing the community and hospitality exemplified in their small groups.

THE ALPHA CONFERENCE

We are excited to announce that we are moving The Alpha Conference to the summer to better accommodate our younger audience. The next conference will be held July 24-25, 2024, in Franklin, Tennessee, at Church of the City. We hope you'll join us!

ALPHA CATHOLIC CONTEXT

In January, more than 1,600 people gathered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as we explored, as the Church, how we are impacting the mission of Jesus through prayer, evangelization, renewal in the Spirit, and unity in the body of Christ. In August, we held A Night with Alpha, a free online experience that highlighted some of the conference’s key moments. More than 4,100 people tuned in, and over 300 watch parties were held across the nation.

This has been a year of forging new partnerships for the Alpha Catholic Context team, and it is exciting to see how God is using these strategic relationships to expand Alpha's reach. Four Catholic dioceses, representing 500 parishes, partnered with Alpha to increase the culture of evangelization within their parishes through a series of training events, prayer ministry, and a collaborative Holy Spirit retreat including all the parishes involved.

Additionally, five universities partnered with Alpha Catholic Context to spearhead a new initiative to foster a culture of hospitality for their campus ministries and include Alpha as part of their outreach to students. Our team also created Encounter Events, which were online and in-person experiences designed to give Catholic ministry leaders of all ages firsthand insight into the values that build a culture of evangelization.

CITY-WIDE EVANGELISM

880 Catholic parishes that ran Alpha

1,683 Courses run in the context of a Catholic community

66,090 Participants

Alpha created a new initiative this year that connected churches and ministries in geographic locations and engaged them in city-wide evangelism efforts. Churches collaborated to launch Alpha and to collectively host the weekend away. In New York City, 18 churches ran 21 Alphas and hosted 160 guests for the collaborative weekend away. Churches in San Francisco and Boston had similar events to launch their Alphas this fall, and the churches in each city jointly hosted the weekend away. We are thrilled to see churches and ministries working together to run Alpha and reach the people in their cities for Jesus.

Photo © Vatican Media

Learn more at alphausa.org/ever-wonder

Without your generous support, Alpha USA would not be able to provide the resources and training that churches and ministries need to offer Alpha to their communities at no cost. Your support helps us accomplish our mission to help people discover and develop a relationship with Jesus.

You are a vital part of this ministry, and we could not do this without you. Will you prayerfully consider continuing to support Alpha USA?

Alpha USA created a documentary-style resource to help churches and individuals understand what it really looks like to run Alpha. We followed five New York churches through the journey of running Alpha from start to finish, capturing the highs, lows, frustrations, and overwhelming joy that comes from this ministry.

Give for future generations

To better serve you, Alpha USA offers planned giving and noncash giving options. Well-planned, intentional giving strategies can equip you to impact future generations while minimizing the taxes you pay. If you are interested in learning more about different charitable vehicles you can use to support Alpha USA, such as a simple will provision, life insurance, a retirement account, highly appreciated stock, or several other options, we would be happy to serve your family and help you have the type of impact that is most meaningful to you. Please prayerfully consider including Alpha USA in your estate plans.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact:

John Wentz Executive Director johnwentz@alphausa.org

Kyle Wallace Deputy Global Chief Development Officer kylewallace@alphausa.org

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Make an immediate impact by giving securely on our website at alphausa.org/fallreport

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