Christianity Explored

My church is starting a new venture this autumn called Christianity Explored. It's a 10 week course about Christianity based on Mark's gospel. I have to say I was rather shocked when I heard that we were doing this- I had just assumed that we would be doing Alpha. I was also shocked by my feelings of hostility toward the course because it wasn't Alpha. Holy Trinity Brompton, the home of Alpha, is my church of choice when I go to London. Maybe my loyalty lies in the fact that I have an attachment to the church? So I thought I'd blog about it and see what comes up.
I am aware of the criticisms of Alpha being that it's out of touch with "real" people, that Nicky Gumbel is too posh and uses alienating examples of being at his squash club to illustrate his points. However the facts about Alpha speak for themselves:

• Over 8 million people worldwide have been on an Alpha course
• Run successfully for over 20 years
• Endorsements from respected Christian leaders: "What Alpha has to offer is a unique mixture of Christian content and Christian style. I recommend it to all the Christian family as a very special tool of evangelism."- The Most Rev'd Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

Of course for all of these courses there must naturally be a shelf life. Maybe Alpha has had its day? Possibly. Possibly it has dated over those 20 years and maybe the resources need updating. I'm guessing they haven't been updated in order to avoid accusations of trying to cash in on the popular brand and make more money. As far as I can tell, the whole Alpha phenomena although a huge deal for HTB, isn't a profit driven exercise. The staff and people associated with the course are Godly and genuine people.

I have only seen a few examples of the Christianity Explored DVD's but as far as I can see Rico Tice (surely it's Tico Rice? ;)) could be just as annoying as Nicky G. and the cultural relevance is likely to leave some people cold too; that's to be expected. The deciding factor at our church seems to be that the course is based on Mark's gospel and "It is not the sort of course where you will be asked to read aloud, never mind to pray or sing." (CE website) If I remember correctly, if doing Alpha properly, sung worship and praying are introduced which could be alienating to people who are just exploring. However, if they are to make a committment and be integrated into the church, surely they need from the outset an awareness that that is what church "looks" like?

I think in conclusion I am bothered that we are doing CE. If we wanted a change wouldn't doing our own thing be the best option? Has the time for big brand marketing of Christianity come to an end, or is there still mileage in Alpha? I'm convinced that I wouldn't begin to invite people to something called Christianity Explored (whereas I would to Alpha, well possibly, more so than CE). Infact I am more likely to invite people to a Sunday morning service than I am either of them. So this leaves me to think and pray about my involvement in the event. And I'm still thinking about my response to the great commission. Such as it is...