MAGlifeAPRIL 2012

Parenting is an important issue today, amid our hectic lives and often blended, chaotic and disconnected families. You never stop learning how to become a better parent and how to raise your children to valuably contribute to our world. Parents learn from other parents and the church can play such a big role in helping to facilitate this.

Alpha Australia is all about supporting the local church to engage those around them more effectively and supporting parents is one way churches can serve their local communities. Alpha is currently launching The Parenting Course resource, in Koorong Bookstores all around Australia. The Parenting Course is for anyone who is caring for children and has two versions, one for those caring for younger children and one for those caring for teenagers. It was developed by Nicky & Sila Lee, from Holy Trinity Brompton in London, who themselves have 4 children and have been married for over 30 years. The course is run over 5 or 10 sessions and can be held anywhere from a home to a playgroup or even in a prison. Like Alpha, it incorporates a meal,a talk and an opportunity for open small group discussion. It gives parents a broad, but Christian, approach to parenting for churched and non-churched guests. Prior to its launch this year, The Parenting Course had been piloted in Australia. Andrew Ross, Assistant Pastor at Northridge Vineyard Church Fellowship, has this to say about his experience of the course, “We found the humility, vulnerability in personal stories and guidance from Nicky and Sila Lee very helpful – both from a participants’ perspective and from a leaders’ perspective. We would thoroughly recommend The Parenting Course to every parent to give them some help and ideas in their parenting.”

Over 60 people gathered at the Melbourne Koorong Bookstore recently for the launch of The Parenting Course. Since then there have been launches in Adelaide, Sydney & Perth, with more launches to come in the following weeks. Please check the Alpha Australia website for a launch near you. You can also contact Rev. John & Maggie Saddington,National Coordinators of The Parenting Course, by emailing them at parenting@relationshipcentral.org.au with any questions you may have regarding The Parenting Course.THE

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Alpha, Marriage & Parenting

Course Resources

Online Offer Code: ALIF0312Offer available for one purchase only. Only available online at koorong.com. Not valid with any other discount or offer. Offer valid 1 April - 15 May 2012.

Parenting Course Launch16th April | Gosford 1.30pm18th April | Armidale 10.30am18th April | Tamworth 2.00pm19th April | Newcastle 11.30am20th April | Penrith 10.30am

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ACT

JAMIE HAITH

Jamie Haith, the presenter of The

Student Alpha Course, which is

aimed at young adults and

university students but has also

been very popular among churches

who run Alpha in Australia, is

headed to Australia in May/June!

Alpha Australia will be hosting

events in NSW, VIC & QLD while he is

out. To experience this new take on

The Alpha Course be sure not to

miss Jamie while he is here!

Check out the Alpha website for full

details on Jamie Haith events.

MAY25th | NSW, 10am - 1pm

Youth & Young Adults Eventwith Jamie Haith

26th | NSW, 9am - 1pm C3 Oxford Falls

Accelerate Event with Jamie Haith

29th-31st | VIC, 7.30pmC3 Bayside, City Lie and

Crossway Baptist ChurchAn evening

with Jamie Haith

QLDEVENTS

NSWParenting Course Launch

24th April | Fyschwick 2.00pm

Parenting Course Launch18th April | Mooloolaba19th April | Springwood 10.00am19th April | Woolloongabba 2.00pm20th April | Toowoomba 10.00am

Accelerate Event21st April | Kenmore Baptist9.00 am

In 2012 Alpha Australia is hosting ACCELERATE Events around the Country to Equip churches like yours to either set-up and run an Alpha Course for

existing course through Accelerated Alpha training.

opportunity to get to know a bit more about Alpha’s various ministries through specialised training streams i.e. Youth Alpha or Student Alpha.

ACCELERATE events are like a mini Alpha “Conference” and run for a half day on Saturdays – approx. 8.30am-12pm

Check out the Alpha website for full details on Accelerate events.

JUNE1st| VIC, 10am - 1pm New Hope BaptistYouth & Young Adults Eventwith Jamie Haith2nd | QLD, 9am-12.30pmNexus ChurchAccelerate Event with Jamie Haith

Your opportunity to host an Alpha Australia Event:

Pastors Gatherings: A time for pastors to meet

together to share stories and encourage one

another. These are hosted by a local church and

Alpha Australia personnel around morning tea

and are an opportunity for the church pastor to

share their Alpha experience.Accelerate Training: These are held on a

Saturday morning and are designed to be run

by a local church Alpha team in partnership with

Alpha Australia personnel.If your church would like to host one of these

events contact Emily White 1800 811 903 OR

emily.white@alpha.org.au

Parenting Course Launch24th April | Blackburn 7.00pmAccelerate Event12th May | Diamond Valley Baptist9.00am

VIC

Nicky and Sila Lee (authors of The Parenting Course) will be touring Australia Late October/Early November this year! LOOK OUT for these events on our website

The Parenting Course is being Launched right around Australia in Koorong Bookstores. Check out the Alpha website for full details on Parenting Course Launch Events

Parenting Course Launch

10th April | Hobart 11.00am

14th April | Launceston 10.00am

TAS

ALPHA CHANGING LIVES Alpha has been running at Crossway Baptist Church in Melbourne for over 15

about Alpha, Crossway was one of the venues he spoke at and the course has been running there ever since. Since then Crossway has seen many people come to faith through Alpha.

Fiona Hall works at Alpha Australia as the Alpha in Churches Team Leader, and has also helped coordinate the course at her church, Crossway, for the past 6 years.

Fiona says: “On the team we have volunteers who help serve food, who are leaders in the smallgroups, and someone who does worship. The team are blessed themselves in many ways as they help. Leaders grow in their

inviting people.

The team has all gained leadership and ministry skills. There are some people who have been helping for a long time because they just love it so much – the ladies in the kitchen have been on team for four years – and others are brand new. Many of our leaders were guests on the course. We try and progress people through and get them to do some of the up-the-front jobs like giving the introduction at the start of the night, putting people into smallgroups, or leading worship. If I left tomorrow there would be a whole team who could carry it on perfectly well!

People are stepping out and doing things they’ve never done before, like leading worship on Alpha even though they might have never led worship at church before. Groups from Crossway have gone on Global Alpha Training (GAT) trips to Indonesia and India to help inspire churches in those countries. It’s pushed the people who have gone but they have had extraordinary experiences.”

When asked what the team have learnt along the way, Fiona says: “We’ve learnt

together that it’s not up to us at all, and that we’ve got to let God do everything.

coming back to and learning again. You can’t be worried about guests not coming back, for example; you need to leave that to God.

We’ve seen that everyone has the potential to come to know Jesus, and that sometimes you mightn’t think that people have the potential to become leaders but they do. There is great power in being a team. At the team prayer meetings before the guests arrive each week, the leaders and helpers support and encourage one another just as they do for the guests in the smallgroups.

The main church course runs four times a year and then some of the lifegroups

There have been lots and lots of baptisms through Alpha. At every baptismal service there is an Alpha story, and for so many in the church, Alpha is part of their journey. It has a huge impact on the mindset of the church. Most people know about Alpha and know that as they meet and journey with people, they can invite them to Alpha.

Some of my standout memories would be watching people come through - like one woman who came as a guest, came to faith, then was a helper, then a leader, went on to lead worship, and then ran a whole Alpha course for mums.

A standout would also be watching every course and considering where people were at in the beginning and, whether or not they have yet come to faith, just how far they have come. God is radically changing lives. And my number one standout memory would be seeing so many people accept Christ.

In some ways on Alpha we’re a bit like ‘goal hangers’ in soccer – we hang around the goal until the ball comes to us, and all we do is kick the goal in. So in some ways it’s easy: we don’t do very much and we get the satisfaction of seeing the ball go into the net. Having said that, there are plenty of sides that lose matches because there’s no-one there kicking.”

10

Alpha is known worldwide for its expertise in evangelism

and our purpose is to serve the local church. Having worked with many

churches we understand that evangelism can sometimes be di!cult for churches

and individuals. One of the ways we may be able to serve your church is to provide

speakers to inspire and motivate your congregation toward evangelism.

You may want them to come to speak at church on Sunday, youth services, to run a

seminar on evangelism, to speak at "outreach events" to the community, or mens, womens or youth events or to help equip and inspire

your leaders or pastoral team.

If you would like someone from Alpha to come and speak at your church please

contact the Alpha o!ce on Ph: 1800 811 903 and we would love to talk more about how we

can serve you.

ZOEY’S STORY

Zoey lives in Sydney and shared her story with us over email. Here is an extract: “One Sunday I was driving home, and I heard someone talking about Jesus on the radio. I remember looking up at the sky and saying: ‘I don’t know who this Jesus guy is God, but I believe in you, that’s enough - isn’t it?’. Monday morning

course that turned out to be an introduction to Christianity at our local church [St Aloysius Cronulla], or should I say, an introduction to Jesus.

absolutely everything to free myself of this prison inside my own head . . . Half-way through the eight-week course, I decided that if Jesus is who he was saying he

. . . I found myself feeling more normal that I’d felt in 6 years. I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t sad, I was neutral. Of

had been waiting for, although I begged for that at the time, but now I see it was something much greater.

It was the period of time in my life where Jesus showed me that he was going to do life with me. We worked together as a team to get me better. [For a year or two] . . . when I started to feel ‘good’ I would slowly slide back into old habits – ‘fun’ habits – but it wasn’t long before I was feeling low again and I went running back to God, saying ‘I don’t understand, why am I sad again?’.

Over the years he has spoken to me many times, in his quiet gentle voice that

easy, because I always trusted his love for me enough, that I allowed myself to be angry with him sometimes. As long as I was being honest with him about the way I felt, we kept fairly good communication and could sort things out quicker. He knew I’d always choose him, before even I knew . . . He knew before I knew that all I wanted and could ever want was Him . . . God used the Alpha Course to save my life, and now I have the knowledge of God’s love to share with others!”.

Zoey attends Cronulla Presbyterian Church.

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PROFILE

13

alphaAdrian and Rachel Dunwell relocated from Auckland New Zealand on the 14th of

February 2011 after Pastoring for 16 years happily at LIFE church knowing that God was calling them to be a part of reaching beyond the borders of New Zealand with

the Gospel.

This was not an easy task but they knew that God had a big plan and they needed to follow his directing.

Adrian and Rachel settled on the northern beaches of Sydney where they began attending C3 Oxford Falls and aligning themselves with the heart and mission of

Pastor Phil and Chris Pringle and the C3 Movement.

The 20/20 Vision, 1000 churches with 500 plus membership resounded clearly within their hearts as their passion has been to grow the Church in every nation of

the world and to see his Kingdom come globally.

In July of 2011 Pastor Phil Pringle asked them to oversee the launch of ALPHA at all their 3 campuses Oxford Falls, City and Silverwater and the adventure began. They

took on this task and nobody, least of all them, would have been able to foretell what amazing doors this simple act of obedience would open.

The uptake from the C3 campuses was so successful on many fronts. The 3 Campuses took on ALPHA with great heart and passion which of course resulted in numerous salvations and a fresh heart and enthusiasm across the centers to reach

those who are looking for Jesus and answers to life.

Following the success of ALPHA in the C3 Campuses Pastor Phil and Chris Pringle and Melinda Dwight, Alpha National Director, felt that ALPHA should be made

available across Australia to all C3 Pastors and their churches. Adrian and Rachel were given the role as ALPHA co-ordinators for Australian C3 Churches.

Already after only 4 weeks in this role they have C3 churches calling on a daily basis enquiring about ALPHA and exploring the possibilities of running it within their

church.

There is a sense of excitement and anticipation that is growing within this incredible movement of churches. We know thatit is going to result in many

lives being changed and brought into relationship with Jesus. Adrian and Rachel Dunwell: rachel.dunwell@myc3church.net

You can follow all their progress and the happenings on their twitter site, @C3Alpha.

noun: a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.

BE A !"#$$%&' “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2

HOW CAN I BE A BLESSING?You can indicate which gift(s) you would like to give AND complete a response form below or on our website, and return it to the Alpha National Office. There may be a particular church that you would like to give to; OR indicate if you are happy for Alpha Australia to choose a church that needs resources.

A gift of $50 will supply a church with a Youth Alpha Leaders’ Guide A gift of $50 a Student Alpha DVD, which includes the Student Alpha talks and training. $180 will supply a church with the Alpha DVD set featuring all of the Classic Nicky Gumbel Alpha talks. $280 will gift an Alpha Starter Pack with all a church needs to run a course, including the Alpha DVD, team training resources and participants’ manuals for up to 20 guests.

ALSO The church who receives your gift will be delighted! You may like to write a brief message to the church.

Like Abraham, we are blessed to be a blessing to those around us. One way that this can happen is through the gifting of books and resources to help other churches run Alpha. By placing Alpha resources in the hands of churches across the country, we are helping to water a seed that has been planted as God brings the growth.

Business Alpha / Alpha in the Workplace Melinda Dwightmelinda.dwight@alpha.org.auPhone: 0438 100 050Global Alpha TrainingNaomi Flatt naomi.flatt@alpha.org.auPhone: 0488 208 187

The Marriage Course/ Marriage Preparation CourseDennis and Ann Outred

dna@relationshipcentral.org.au

Alpha Australia National Office

PO Box 10, Kerrimuir VIC 3129admin@alpha.org.au

Tel 1800 811 903 or 03 9899 8050www.alpha.org.auwww.alpha.org.au/friends

Youth Alpha Jono Green jono.green@alpha.org.au

Student Alpha Sam Farmilo sam.farmilo@alpha.org.auPhone: 0402 561 792

Phone: 0400 677 656

National DirectorMelinda Dwightmelinda.dwight@alpha.org.auPhone: 0438 100 050

Executive Team

Transform Team Leader: John Clarkejohn.clarke@alpha.org.auPhone: 0430 388 774

Support Team Leader: Philippa Fieldingphil.fielding@alpha.org.auPhone: 0438 100 050

For any enquires or further information about Alpha Australiaplease contact:Emily Whiteemily.white@alpha.org.auPhone: 1800 811 903 or 03 9899 8050

Evangelise Team Leader: Alpha in ChurchesFiona Hallfiona@alpha.org.auPhone: 0432 525 476

The Parenting CourseJohn and Maggie Saddingtonjohn.saddington@alpha.org.auPhone: 0418 862 842

Alpha for Prisons /

John Clarke john.clarke@alpha.org.auPhone: 0430 388 774

Caring For Ex-Offenders