Day Nine: County Sligo
Saturday 9 May
The annual VOX magazine Finding Faith Tour looks very different this year. Instead of a 7-day road trip around the island, this year VOX editor Ruth Garvey-Williams brings you highlights from all 32 counties (one per day plus one for each of the 31 days in May). Contact Ruth if you have a story to share.
Day Nine: Alpha Online attracts Young Adults
In Elphin Diocese, I connect with Deacon Frank McGuinness who has been running the Alpha Course on line for the last five weeks
“I decided to connect with our young adults (18 - 30s) and through our WhatsApp group I asked if anyone was interested in joining an online Alpha course,” Frank said. “Initially, I got 15 responses and we’ve had 11 people turning up consistently.
“Alpha seems ideally suited to the online environment, especially for young adults. If I was to try and get them physically in a room there is no way I’d be able to attract so many and the distances in a rural diocese make that particularly difficult.”
Although some participants knew each other before, others did not and they were meeting for the first time online. “I noticed that the bonding that happens naturally in an Alpha course is happening online. As we start the meetings conversations are happening naturally as people grab a cup of tea and sit down. We use Zoom to connect with one another but I share the video link on Vimeo so the quality is maintained, we simply mute the microphones while everybody watches the presentation.”
Encouraged by the way this group of young adults is engaging, Frank adds, “The beauty of Alpha is that it is a full faith-formation programme. If people turn up week after week they begin to forge a strong foundation. The online thing seems to work with this age demographic. “
Alpha Ireland has provided a range of resources for parishes looking to run the Alpha Course or Alpha Youth online and in Dublin, two Church of Ireland parishes are also running the Alpha Marriage Course online. Previous experience of running a course is important, Frank tells me but this is a time to try new things! “People are sitting at home anyway so they are not greatly inconvenienced. An hour is the equivalent of most episodes on TV so it is not a major commitment and there is no travel involved!”
“I would encourage people to be brave and give it a lash.”
“The wonderful thing is how flexible it can be. We’ve had two bank holidays since I started this course and we were able to adjust to a different night to suit people without having to worry about re-arranging a venue. My hope is that as we move people into a new level of discipleship, they in turn can learn to lead others.”
If you are interested in finding out more about the Alpha Course or running any of the Alpha resources online, visit Alpha Ireland’s new website.
