ALPHA USA ANNUAL REPORT 2016
Letter From Craig
Alpha USA Annual Report 2016
When I accepted the role as Executive Director of Alpha USA in November 2016, I sensed God inviting me to join an impending revival (and an incredible team). I know this might sound a little brazen, but I have never witnessed a movement of God so globally unifying, so fruitful and sustainable, so covered in prayer, and with such potential for growth in the generations to come. I want to be a part of the story God is writing through Alpha and I know you do too.
LETTER FROM CRAIG Executive Director, Alpha USA
Alpha is in, through, and for the local church. Our aim is to serve the church in its mission to make disciples. At its core, Alpha is about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ helping to create an experience of God that transforms the hearts and lives of the guests. Romans 1:16 reminds us that the gospel is the “power of God” to transform someone, and we’ve seen this power show up again and again and again. Last year we partnered with over 5,000 churches throughout the United States and, as a result, over 300,000 people tried Alpha in 2016 alone! An estimated 47,000 church volunteers were actively mobilized for evangelism and in relationships with people exploring the Christian faith. We often hear from churches how they are not only reaching more people for Christ, but the church as a whole is being transformed through running Alpha. “People who were on the sidelines of evangelism are now being trained and are on the front lines of God’s Kingdom expansion. People who had diminished in their prayerfulness for the lost are now on their knees daily, depending on the work of God in the life of someone they love.” This is so powerful.
P.S. In 2016, the Barna Group ran a study on Alpha’s impact and discovered some humbling data. Don’t miss the snapshot of this research on Page 5.
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By far the most significant impact we saw in 2016 was within the Catholic Church. Thanks to some incredible partnerships and a spirit of unity in Christ, Alpha in the Catholic Church
more than doubled last year alone, reaching more than 100,000 people. We are overjoyed by what God is doing through these efforts.
Another area of focus has been empowering strategic churches with broad influence to build Alpha in their context. We are currently working with 25 influential churches who are extending and modeling Alpha to serve as a hub for other churches wanting to learn more about Alpha. Our hope is to see that number increase to 40 hub churches by year-end, and to 100 by the end of 2019.
In addition, we’ve launched the new Alpha Film Series, a modern documentary style resource for running Alpha. And we continue to make improvements to Alpha Builder as an effective online training tool and our primary mechanism for giving Alpha to churches for free. One final item to note, more than 20,000 inmates participated in Alpha through our work in prisons, a growth rate of over 20% from the prior year. Wow!
There’s so much to be thankful for in 2016, but we are especially thankful for you. We love partnering with you and look forward to what God has in store for 2017. Together, Craig Springer Executive Director
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. Rom. 1:16
Richard’s story
THIS IS RICHARD’S STORY Over 300,000 people in the U.S. tried Alpha in 2016. We see so many different people from all walks of life, because at Alpha everyone is welcome. Below is just one of millions of stories around the globe, that shares what an impact Jesus has made on their life. This is Richard’s story...
Alpha USA Annual Report 2016
My life was pretty much a blackout. I wasn’t angry. I just loved to get out of control and do whatever I wanted. I was out 7 nights a week... going hard. It started with a girl who wanted to check out church. I wanted to check her out, so I tagged along. The more I went, I began to feel guilty for the way I was living. If only to deal with this new guilt, I felt a pull to get involved in something. So during the church announcements, I said I’d do whatever came up next... It was an invitation to try Alpha.
Each week after Alpha I’d go out and party. It was fun at first, but soon I started feeling pretty terrible. That’s when I realized that if I let myself continue to control my life, I got everything I didn’t want. I walked through the doors for week five of Alpha, convinced my group would see the horrible person that I thought I was. Instead, I found that the group was real, open and genuinely cared more about me than what I believed or what I had done. On the weekend away, I reached a point where I was like, “God... if you are real, let’s do this.” And the Holy Spirit showed up. I experienced the love of God in the most powerful way. I became convinced that I was truly loved by God and I was never and will never be alone.
I went to school to become a hair dresser. I keep thinking back to the people at Alpha who genuinely loved me right where I was. I figured why couldn’t I do that too? That’s what led me to share my story and God’s love with every client without jamming anything down their throat.
My goal is to make every person who sits in my chair feel loved, heard and beautiful. I literally pray he sends me people He wants to affect through me. It’s so amazing - what started as God seeking me out has turned into Him sending me out. In the fall of 2017, Richard will be one of five stories featured as part of our Global Alpha Campaign as a way to invite people all across the world to #TryAlpha.
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THE CHURCH AND ALPHA’S IMPACT Churches are looking to create non-judgmental environments where those outside of the church feel welcomed and safe to ask questions about Christianity. As a result, many churches across the nation are engaging with Alpha. Some are just getting into the story while others are running it for the first time. 25 of our most strategic churches have seen the impact of Alpha in their church and are now extending Alpha beyond their context as official hub churches. They are extending through different ways...
... through training
Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Catholic Church is a large parish of about 3,400 families located in Plymouth, MI. After starting Alpha in 2013, OLGC has hosted and run 2 local trainings a year with over 30 parishes in attendance. They have offered personal coaching to over 75 people globally and field roughly 8-10 calls a week from churches inquiring about Alpha. This plays a part in the wider effort with the Catholic Church, where 26 different trainings have taken place with attendance from 134 parishes.
... through giving
There is a significant church who has recently seen the fruit of Alpha. They were so excited to get it for free, they wanted to fund it forward so that more churches could use this as an evangelism resource. As an anonymous extending partner, they have committed their first $50,000 this last year.
... and through influence
ROCKHARBOR Church in Costa Mesa, CA runs Alpha 3 times a year, reaching several thousand guests throughout the years. Uniquely positioned as a large, influential, multi-site church, they generously support churches from varied denominations that are exploring Alpha. They host multiple churches on their Alpha weekends, invite churches to see behind the scenes on their first night of Alpha and will be one of the first in the country to host Experience Alpha - an event for leaders from key churches to see firsthand how Alpha works in today’s culture. 4
“Alpha has impacted our church culture by bringing evangelism back to the forefront of what we do.” - Jon Tyson, Trinity Grace Church
“I think the secret behind Alpha is the safe community it creates. Relationships are always relevant. A place where you can ask anything, you can say anything and you know you are not going to be judged.” - Dave Ferguson, Community Christian Church
“What if I told you that [Alpha] is the most predictively redemptive tool I’ve ever seen in 40 years of ministry?” - Bill Hybels, Willow Creek Church
“One of the crises we have culturally is people don’t have friends anymore. We are more connected than we’ve ever been, but we don’t have friends. But on Alpha you make friends with each other and with God. It’s a home run!” -Fr. John Riccardo, Our Lady of Good Counsel
Alpha USA is at a unique position in its history. Across the United States, cities in every state are becoming more postChristian—some at a faster rate than others. The growing need for a tool like Alpha means it is poised for rapid expansion in the U.S. In 2016, the Barna Group conducted a global study on the impact of Alpha. The research was carried out in 11 countries in over 200 churches across all major denominations. Below are some highlights from their research...
Guest Impact
Church Impact
Since trying Alpha...
Since running Alpha...
95% of guests said Alpha had a very or somewhat positive impact on their lives.
79% of guests will definitely recommend Alpha to their friends.
78% of Christian, non-active church goers became more committed to regularly attending Christian church service or Mass.
82% of non-Christians described themselves as followers of Jesus.
91% of Christian, regular church goers have a more intimate relationship with Jesus.
93% of churches will definitely recommend another organization to run Alpha.
99% of churches agree that Alpha has created a safe place for people to come ask questions about the Christian faith.
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2016 BY THE NUMBERS 315,801 people tried Alpha in 2016
101,019
193,782
Catholic guests
Protestant guests
8,214
5,097
9,273
47,370
People trained
Churches ran Alpha
Alpha courses
Church volunteers
778
Churches ran Alpha – Catholic
1,469 289
Churches ran Alpha - Youth
Churches ran Alpha – Prison
1,741
Alpha - Catholic courses
867
Alpha - Prison courses
2,615
21,000 Guests on Alpha - Prison courses
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Alpha - Youth courses
57,530 Guests on Alpha - Youth courses
Financial Year
Alpha USA Annual Report 2016
Donations & Income
General
70%
Designated
23%
Publishing & Other
7%
Program Services
86%
Administrative
5%
Fundraising
9%
$5,855,580
Ministry Expenditures
$5,911,962 For more details, please look for our forthcoming auditors report at alphausa.org/financials
LOOKING AHEAD
We are looking at 2017 with anticipation. Through internal structures and processes, better technology and products, and the continual development of new relationships - we hope to establish a strong base for exponential growth. Here are just a few items to note for 2017.
FINANCES
We want to be the best stewards we can be with what God has given us. Our aim in 2017 is to reduce our overhead by over $1 million dollars. From that we want a larger percentage of our funds to go towards the work in our networks, regions and context ministries - the front lines of our work. All of this is through a continued commitment to live within our means, while still taking appropriate steps of faith for Kingdom expansion.
THE NEW ALPHA YOUTH SERIES
Since the launch of the first Alpha Youth Film Series in 2013, it has been run in 49 countries, 19 languages, in schools, homes, coffee shops, churches and more - reaching hundreds of thousands of young people around the world. Now, the new Alpha Youth Series has been updated, rewritten and redesigned for a global audience. Coming soon in the fall of 2017.
ALPHA BUILDER 2.0 We recently launched Alpha Builder 2.0 in Q1 of 2017. This is our online tool designed to help churches run the best Alpha possible. There are training resources, planning and promotional tools, and all of the video talks. Everything you need to run Alpha is free and available to download. We are eager to see the continued impact of this tool.
HUB CHURCHES
Hub churches serve as a model for other churches to come and see a best practice Alpha, as well as receive training and coaching on how to run Alpha. We are planning to expand from 25 hub churches to 40 in 2017, with 100 by the end of 2019.
CONTEXTS
Catalytic efforts are being taken to grow Alpha in the contexts of strategic churches, Catholic parishes, with youth and in prisons. Each of these targeted areas experienced tremendous growth in 2016, and we are working to help further these ministries across the country in 2017. 7
PARTNER WITH ALPHA USA Guests meeting Jesus through Alpha only happens because of friends like you. Alpha is 100% funded by donations, which allow us to make it completely free to churches and guests. Will you consider a gift to Alpha and help make this possible for more people in the world to experience?
Alpha USA 1635 Emerson Lane Naperville, IL 60540 800-362-5742 questions@alphausa.org @AlphaUSA @AlphaUSA @AlphaUSA alphausa.org #TryAlpha
alphausa.org/give