JUNE 2010
NICKY’ GUMBEL’S ALPHA COURSE
I attended a one-day Alpha programme presented by Nicky Gumbel on February 19, 2002 [see pages 111, 112] in Chennai at the Music Academy, a secular venue. I chanced upon him during the lunch break and he signed for me a copy of his 1993 best-selling book “ Questions of Life” that I had bought in 1997, and which I have still not opened. I also have a copy each of his 1991 booklet “Why Jesus” and “Telling Others”, 1994. I intended going through the books while preparing this report, but after finding that there is sufficient information on the world-wide web, I gave up the idea. I don't know who arranged Nicky Gumbel’s visit to Chennai. There were many Protestant pastors present. A sizeable delegation from the International Catholic Programme for Evangelization [ICPE] had come down from Bangalore. I recall a Catholic Bishop addressing the gathering, welcoming Nicky Gumbel and his team. I recall very little about the programme. There was a lot of mention of evangelization and reaching the Gospel to others, and that is one issue that has always grabbed my attention. I suppose that since the delegates were from across the denominational spectrum, the contents of the talks were not doctrinal. Even if there had been any aberrations, I would probably have missed them as I was not as well informed then -- especially about the problems associated with a false ecumenism and the errors of Protestant teaching -- as I am now. In the prayer and ministering sessions, I found Alpha spirituality to be charismatic, and I had no problems with that either. Yes, I had not only heard of Holy Trinity Brompton and the “Toronto Blessing”, John Wimber, Rodney Howard-Browne and others whose names the reader will become familiar with in the following pages, I had read their books and watched their video tapes. I was at least a couple of years from graduating into a Catholic apologist.-Michael