Three Common Reasons that the alpha course "Doesn't work"

Some churches that begin to run the Alpha course find that it "doesn't work." There are usually three reasons:

1. The church is "Inward focused" in its culture.

2. Alpha is viewed as program--one of many programs--in the congregation.

3. Alpha is not properly positioned in the church to cultivate or develop a culture of outreach.

#1. Not using Alpha to reach out significantly beyond your congregation

Once Alpha begins to run in a church, many of the members go through the course to see what it's like, and so they can recommend it to others. But if the course is not seen as a means to bring the gospel to the lost, the course “dries up” very quickly once the church members have all gone through it. Some churches mistakenly conclude at this point that "Alpha doesn't work in our church." But at this point, the church hasn't really even touched the “community” for whom Alpha is aimed.
Smaller churches will see Alpha dry up more quickly, because they have less “members” to run through the course. But this eventually effects larger churches too. It just takes longer to reach that point.

#2. Alpha is viewed as a program, rather than a process that initiates a discipleship process

In some churches Alpha is viewed as simply one program among several competing programs aimed at church members and gets lost in the shuffle. That's like asking a "coach" to join the players to go play basketball. The coach can do it, but he's much more effective as a coach than a player. If allowed to coach instead, the coach could get a lot more potential out of each player, and bear fruit for the team. But first you have to give the coach and players their proper roles.
The same is true for Alpha. Alpha is like the "coach" who can get more out of each player (i.e., Alpha can help your church develop a discipleship process that is able to get more out of each program) by creating an outward-focused, outreach-oriented culture in your church.
In order for Alpha to work effectively, it needs to be viewed as a process that initiates a discipleship process rather than a program.

#3. Alpha is not positioned to “infect the whole church”

The Alpha course carries with it the New Testament DNA to form a biblical foundation for discipleship, to equip and release people with gifts for ministry, and to create a culture of compassion, outreach, leadership and service in your church.
If Alpha is given the proper position in the church to seed and shape a culture of outreach, the whole church will take on new dimensions to create an environment where transformation in Jesus Christ will be the norm rather than the exception.