I have to keep being reminded, so I will remind you, that "judging" or "condemnation" is not to be a part of our daily fare as believers. Pointing fingers and ridiculing and generally being harsh with those with whom we disagree is not what Jesus does or did.

Jesus reserved harshness for hypocrisy. It is not my thinking in this arrticle that Nicky Gumbel and company are a bunch of hypocrites. But I do suggest, as lovingly and gently as I know how, that Alpha can be a serious hindrance to Christian growth as well as a promoter of many good things.

The 10-week course and one weekend event do indeed cover the basics of the Christian faith and for the most part cover them in ways we have heard for many years. But the exceptions to this summary may be considered notable by some. I personally decided I could not be a part of Alpha. You must weigh the evidence.

Nicky Gumbel, though presently the chief name associated with the Alpha movement, is not its founder. It began as a local church event, a desire to ground people in the doctrines of Christianity.

It is hard to overlook the fact that this all began in the Anglican Church, of which Nicky is a "Rector." (For the curious, a "rector" , per Wikipedia, is " in the widest ecclesiastical sense, 'one who sets straight, guides, directs; a ruler, governor, director, guide, leader,' from the Latin verb rego, regere, rexi, rectum, "to set straight, guide, direct".) He's the leader of the church. I prefer the more Biblical terms of "Pastor", "Elder", etc, but we won't quibble. Yet.

Nicky Gumbel is the man who put this course on an international trajectory, writing all the current literature, and spearheading the movement from London. His books are all available to the public. Good reading, in my opinion. Except, as I suggested above, a few places...

Protestant Christians will find it amazing, having read the books, that do not mention Romanist ideas all that much, that the headship of Rome has given its full approval to "Alpha". Worse, for us, not for Rome, a Roman bishop now sits on the official Alpha board.

Shades of Dr. Graham here, and so many other evangelical forces of our day, that feel the need for Rome's approval. This struggle for absorption by the Roman See has been going on since the early days of the church. Rome still believes that she has the right and responsibility to oversee everything called "Christian." Though her doctrinal statements continue to anathematize Protestantism, she still lovingly refers to you and me as her dear "separated" brothers.

Alpha is thoroughly ecumenical. And you will note in some of its writings the mention of an occasional Catholic person or idea, somewhat incidentally, but as always, a danger to those who get confused about being called out of Romanism only to find that many "called out" are quite comfortable in fellowshipping with her.