Alpha Begins

The first evening of the Alpha course is about the most exciting thing in church life for me - I love seeing who turns up, what made people come along and what we can do to help them feel welcome. But last Wednesday was even more of an adventure than usual as we'd never done Alpha at St Peter's before; we had very little idea of who was going to turn up and how many. As well as friends inviting friends and family, work colleagues and neighbours, we did some advertising - in the Argus, the Leader, and some free online listings. Intriguingly the focussed Facebook advert we placed had 1.2 million impressions in 2 weeks, and over 400 "clickthroughs" to the website. In the event, we filled up 5 groups, including one large group of students, and ended up sending out for more food. Great mix of people and lots of buzz exploring The Meaning of Life, which was continued by many in the pub after. Looking forward to next Wednesday now - will everyone (anyone?) come back, and anyone else?