Stories from… Alpha // Francesca
What's the Alpha course like? We asked Francesca to tell us all about it.
I attended the Alpha Course in October 2016.
At the beginning I decided to start attending Alpha because I had an extremely positive experience of attending Christ Church London, and I thought, OK, let’s try Alpha too! It turned out to be even more inspiring than I expected: a cognitively and emotionally intense experience, a new way of meeting our Father, and an opportunity for making new friends too.
We met every week for around two months, in the evening, in a pub in south London. Every evening we had food together, and then we watched an Alpha video-clip focusing on a different topic every week, followed by a group discussion. I came from a Catholic background so faith has been always part of my life, but I have never before had the opportunity to discuss so openly about doubts, faith and science too. I realised that they are not mutually exclusive which is important to me as an academic researcher.
It’s thanks to Alpha, to the Connect group that I joined thereafter, and to STEPS that I decided to get baptised, and that I have learned again, in a new way, the relevance of prayers and the powerful presence of God in everyday life. I am not sure whether I have been able to describe entirely what attending Alpha is like, and what it has meant to me, but I hope that at least I have been able to give a sense of how important I found it. Anyone who wants to explore more about faith and a relationship with God, whether you are new to faith or not, I would recommend Alpha. It was a great experience!