FAQs

FAQQ. Is there a video/DVD set for Youth Alpha?

A. No - Youth Alpha is presented by 'live' speakers and doesn't have a video set. There are many reasons for this, some of which being that we believe the relational approach is important, but also cultural relevance, cost, and the danger of any DVDs being outdated very soon after production. We also believe that youth presenting the 'live' talks is very powerful and encourage anyone running Youth Alpha to consider getting youth to present the live talks and run the course, for their own peers.

Q. Are you going to put all the recommended movie clips from the Leaders Guide on video and DVD?

A. No, for copyright reasons we can’t do this. We will give you all the details about the clip and where you can find it on the DVD but you must purchase or rent the DVD yourself to play the selected clip. 

Q. Can churches charge a fee for people to come on Youth Alpha?

A. It's very important to us that people are not charged for coming on the course. Evangelist Billy Graham has always said it's really important that people can hear the gospel free of charge. There may need to be a charge for the weekend away or day away but if at all possible, see if you can find people to sponsor the youth coming on the course, so they don't have to pay anything.

Q. Is it possible to run Youth Alpha without the weekend or day?

A. No - it wouldn’t be Alpha. We’ve found that the weekend or day with teaching on the Holy Spirit is one of the most crucial parts of the course. Interestingly, the Methodist Church did a survey a while ago of all the churches that were running Alpha, and they found that there were a handful of churches where Alpha was not working that well, and there were also a handful of churches that had cut out the weekend or the day on the Holy Spirit. It turned out that they were the same churches.

Q. Do we have to have sung worship each week on Youth Alpha?

A. There are other ways aside from sung worship of including a 'worship' element - look in the Leaders’ Guide for some creative ways to do worship.

Q. Who should lead the small groups on Youth Alpha?

A. As much as is possible we want to encourage youth to run the course, so youth leading the small groups is a great way to give them ownership and responsibility on the course. We understand that some people might find it difficult to get enough youth together who can lead the small groups and so in that situation we suggest that maybe for the first time you model how to lead the group, with a couple of your youth being helpers in the group. Then the next time you run the course you can ask those youth you got to be helpers in the small group to be the leaders and ask some youth from the past course (ideally any who might have become Christians) to be helpers, and keep the cycle going.

Q. Should older teenagers do the regular Alpha course as opposed to Youth Alpha?

A. It’s up to your discretion as to what is most appropriate. If they might feel patronised coming to a 'youth' Alpha course, then perhaps you could have a ‘youth’ group on a normal Alpha course for them. But in most situations teenagers seem to respond best to the Youth Alpha style of presentation rather than regular Alpha.