One of the criticisms of the Alpha video is its length, often up to forty minutes long. This has been dealt with by Alpha Express. These videos contain the same doctrinal teaching but less of the anecdotal evidence of Nicky Gumbel.
The context for the day was introduced by Mark Greene of the LICC. He gave his presentation, 'Why the Workplace matters.'
I think that Greene has a great deal of relevant material to offer in the subject of Faith and Work. Interestingly this presentation has been 'doing the rounds' of conferences for many years.
I do not think that Greene has not developed his ideas on the subject but it does highlight the need to educate and convince Christians that work matters to God.
I feel this is still an enormous task that has to be seriously undertaken, and may have to be done before Alpha in the Workplace becomes as common as Alpha in the Church place.
A real practical lesson was learnt by all delegates. The conference was excellently organised with lovely touches such as croissants on arrival and chocolate bars in the delegate's packs.
However, the venue could not have been more unsuitable, The Church was cold and uncomfortable—which in itself speaks volumes!
Gordon Morton
Alpha in the Workplace Conference
St Michael's le Belfry, York, 26th November 2005
Holding Alpha courses in the workplace does not seem to be an original idea but it has now received the backing of Holy Trinity, Brompton.
This one day conference covered all the points necessary to run a course, although, I would suggest that these were all common sense to a person who has experience of running a group but it is always worth hearing basics again.
The idea of Alpha in the workplace seems to have come from Canada. One aspect of the course is that it was run by senior management in a company. This will always give it some authority and although it was pointed out that the course is for all staff, having the blessing of the decision makers is always an advantage.
For this reason, I do feel that there is some merit in 'targeting' business leaders and Alpha was signalled as a useful tool for this purpose.
John D.L. Mackay, the President of the Strand Corporation in Vancouver was quoted as saying,
'Alpha in the Workplace is the most effective method for reaching out to other business leaders in my city. I have personally seen many colleagues come to faith in Christ through participating in the Alpha course in my boardroom.'
The conference covered reasons for holding the course and all the associated practical aspects.
