Impact report

Alpha is highly relevant in the modern world as a welcoming space for individuals to reinvigorate and explore the Christian faith, and for people to bring the message of the Gospel to the modern world using innovative means.

His Excellency, Most Rev. Jose S. Palma

Archbishop of Cebu

"

Thank you for playing a part in impacting the world for Jesus

Less than a third of the eight billion people on the planet identify as Christian. At Alpha, we long to play our part in seeing:

THE NATIONS REACHED

THE CHURCH REVITALISED

SOCIETY TRANSFORMED

We work in partnership with the local church to give every person the opportunity to explore a personal relationship with Jesus – wherever they are in the world – for free.

Thanks to your support, friendship, and prayers, 1.9 million people had the opportunity to explore faith and meet Jesus through Alpha in 2023.

Thank you. We couldn’t do this without your support.

Letter from
the Chairman

It is wonderful to hear of lives transformed around the world as more and more people come to know the love of Jesus through Alpha.

Around 1.9 million people participated in an Alpha course in 2023, more than ever before in a single year. Some 600,000 of those attended Alpha Youth. There were 39,000 courses running in churches and organisations of all denominations in 148 countries – but there is still so much to be done.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support, which helped make all this possible.

With best wishes,

Nicky Gumbel

in 2023

1.89 million

people did Alpha across 148 countries

39,000+

churches, organisations and individuals ran Alpha

19%

of all churches running Alpha globally were Catholic

74,000+

Alpha courses took place, of which 36% were for young people under 25

25%

of all Alpha courses used a version contextualised for their cultural context; a significant increase on 13% in 2022

Your

Investment

In

Alpha

Helps

Impact

The

World

Prayer

Central to Alpha's ministry

In all that we do, we continue to rely on the Holy Spirit to do infinitely more through Alpha than is humanly possible through our products, strategies, and teams. As we look forward to the next decade, we aim to make room for the ministry of the Spirit and seek to bless what the Father is already doing.

We have been reminded of Ezekiel 47 and its powerful image of water flowing from the temple into the world, evoking the flow of the Spirit.

In verses 5-6, Ezekiel describes how the water becomes a river too deep to cross, symbolising our vision. We can only achieve the fullness of this vision through humbly submitting every aspect to God in prayer. We are carried by, and so grateful for, the prayers of believers around the world. Please join us in praying for Alpha so that everyone gets the chance to explore faith in Jesus.

“

He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in – a river that no one could cross. He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

Ezekiel 47: 5-6 (NIV)

You helped us expand our reach

In 2023, you helped us to reach more people, in more churches, in more countries than ever before.

Through our Leadership Conference

The Leadership Conference is a global event welcoming all generations, denominations, traditions, languages, and cultures. The conference was back in person at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2023, with interpretation into eight languages, including British Sign Language. Hosted by Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, the theme was Lift up your eyes: Look up to Jesus and look out to the world. Speakers included Nicky Gumbel, Danielle Strickland, Bear Grylls, Rt Revd Joseph Aba, Anthony and Chloe Tan, and Mark Sayers.

4,500 people from
67 countries and
28 denominations
attended LC23.

Through The Marriage Course

Through The Marriage Course and the Pre-Marriage Course, we hope to help couples build stronger marriages and families. Because these practical courses are geared to anyone, whether in the church or not, we hope that some of those attending will go on to do an Alpha course and join a local church.

Thanks to generous funding we launched a new website

in 2023

138,000+

people participated in The Marriage Course or The Pre-Marriage Course (an increase of 33%)

5,000

churches ran courses (up 21%)

9,500+

churches ran courses (up 27%)

10

additional translations launched, taking total to 45

15

National Alpha Offices hosted a global event: The Marriage Course Experience, and a new episode ‘Marriage and Ministry’ was launched

Through The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel

The Bible in One Year rebranded, changing its name to The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (BNAP). We are encouraged to see app users building a habit of reading the Bible at least three times a week (an increase of 57% year-on-year).

We completed translations into Italian and Vietnamese, bringing the total number of available languages to 12.

“

I just wanted to thank you all for making the Word of God available and manageable. I always got overwhelmed when I tried to read the Bible, but now it is my favourite thing to do. It has changed my life and given me purpose.

BNAP app user

Through Alpha online

AlphaNow is our custom-built platform designed for running Alpha online. Hosts are able to show the Alpha videos, enjoy online small groups, facilitate prayer ministry and choose different levels of data consumption – ideal for regions and countries where every megabyte counts.

As we work to make the Alpha Course experience as impactful as possible, we developed and launched a prototype of a Guest App. Guests can rewatch the course content, reflect on the discussion questions, and access additional content. We tested the app with several churches in the UK with very encouraging results.

You helped us expand partnerships

Watch the trailer

Alpha partners with local churches in their contexts, to reach their communities and help people discover and develop a relationship with Jesus.

To help churches new to Alpha, we hosted two Global Experience Alpha events at HTB in London as part of our “Explore” strategy in 2023. Over 200 church leaders attended to learn how to run an Alpha course, witness an Alpha in action, and get familiar with prayer ministry and the components of the away day. The hands-on experience helped embed learning.

As part of our “Extend” strategy, we partner with strategic and influential “hub” churches to serve their wider community vision. In 2023, we welcomed an extra 100 hub churches to our network, bringing the total number to 625 globally.

Additionally, we produced a pilot training and envisioning film, which showcases how to run Alpha. In a Netflix documentary-style, the film tells the stories of three churches in New York City, all starting Alpha at the same time. The trailer was launched as a part of our “Experience” strategy, and the complete film will be released in 2024.

Catholic Context

In 2023, we intentionally partnered with several mission partners to work towards our goal of making Alpha accessible to everyone, everywhere, by 2033. These partnerships included Vatican leaders and Dicasteries for World Youth Day, the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences, and significant networks such as Charis, Global 2033 and Divine Renovation.

Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, as well as other senior Alpha leaders, were priviledged to be invited to the Called, Transformed and Sent – CHARIS gathering in Rome at the Vatican. Nicky spoke about Alpha to the whole gathering (nearly 3,000 people) as part of the main programme on the same day as Pope Francis and Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa.

19% of all churches running Alpha worldwide were in the Catholic Context

We saw an encouraging 47% increase in those participating in Alpha in a Catholic Context

Alpha as a course is great – Alpha as a culture is phenomenal. That’s the essence of how Alpha works when it is absorbed into your church; it changes everything. I’ve never seen such a disproportionate level of fruit for the level of investment as I have with Alpha: people encountering Jesus, faith coming alive and then taking ownership of the mission of Jesus.

Fr James Mallon

Founder of Divine Renovation

"

You helped create new resources

Alpha Creative Hub

The Alpha Creative Hub is a state-of-the-art film studio, home to Alpha’s product creation. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the build began in Q1 2023 and was completed in December 2023, on time and on budget. The Hub will deliver translations for the Alpha Film Series into 74 languages and the Alpha Youth Series into 55 languages.

Alpha Youth Talks Africa

Alpha Youth Talks Africa (AYTA) is a new video series adapted from the existing Alpha Youth series but with a fresh African presentation. This makes the series a powerful tool for engaging young people in evangelism conversations across the continent. Approximately a third of all churches running Alpha in English in Sub-Saharan Africa use AYTA.
Watch Alpha Youth Talks Africa trailer

Alpha Youth Series

2023 was significant for Alpha Youth as the team worked hard to produce the new Alpha Youth Series, launching in 2024. We selected our new hosts and collaborated to ensure our scripts were culturally, theologically, and generationally relevant. We filmed approximately 150 vox pops (street interviews) in London, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, and Perth and six stories in Brighton, Stockholm, Tennessee, LA and London.