Alpha or Else? (Easter 3.C)

Being defensive is one of my worst faults. I find it hard to take criticism.  But I got a complaint on Wednesday that made me smile. 

“It’s creepy how much you guys promote Alpha—sort of like Scientology!”

He said it with a smile, which helped.

The fact is, I was happy to hear someone react to our constant talk about Alpha—it means the message is beginning to be heard, even if not everyone’s pleased to hear it.

And this good-natured criticism from a new parishioner reminded me that both new and old members of the congregation deserve an explanation for the emphasis our parish places on Alpha.

So today, I am going to explain why Alpha is so important. 

It won’t sound much like a homily, but in a way I’m preaching on one sentence from the first reading: “we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

First, let me give you some background to the question “why are you always talking about Alpha?”

In 2012, the Archbishop followed the example of Caesar Augustus and decreed a census. But it was a very different census from the one that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem—it was a head count of all those attending Mass on two given Sundays in October. It’s been taken every year since.

That year, an average of 959 people came to Sunday Mass in our parish. Six years later, in 2018, the number was 763. That's a decrease of 20%.

Let’s look at the figures for just one year. In 2017, we had 813 at Mass; when we compare that to the 763 who attended in 2018, we see a drop of 5% in one year.

These declines may not seem drastic, since we spread out in the pews and enjoy more parking spaces.

It’s possible, perhaps, that the numbers are a just a result of housing prices and young people moving away. Maybe we’re really a thriving parish that just has to downsize and accommodate ourselves to changing demographics..

But I’m afraid there’s another set of numbers we have to deal with: the results from the ME25 survey we conducted in March. That professional survey was designed to measure member engagement—which is another term for the spiritual health of our parish.

The key result? Less than a third of our parishioners are engaged. Fully half are not engaged, and one in five is actively disengaged.

I can also give you those numbers as percentages. Twenty-eight percent of the members of our parish are engaged, 51% are disengaged, while 21% are actively disengaged.

Now don't panic—disappointing as those figures are, they’re fairly typical for both Catholic parishes and other churches overall. 

But think what it means: fewer than one in three members of Christ the Redeemer can be described as strongly connected, spiritually committed and—here’s where Alpha comes in—likely to invite friends, family members, and coworkers to parish events. Because that’s what “engaged” means.

  

The survey got very specific on this last point. People were asked to respond to the statement “In the last month, I have invited someone to participate in my parish.” Forty-six percent strongly disagreed. Nine percent strongly agreed. And these results are not typical of other parishes, where the figures were significantly more encouraging.

I hope it’s becoming clear why Alpha looms so large in the parish plan. First, because we need to do something. But also because Alpha works.*

Father James Mallon, who wrote the book Divine Renovation, puts it this way: there may be a better tool than Alpha, but I haven’t found it yet. (cf. Divine Renovation, 142)

Until something better comes along, Alpha’s our best hope and the simplest way we can do something to change our parish and change our world by sharing the Good News with those who haven’t heard it.

We invite family and friends to Alpha because we are witnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus, like Peter and the Apostles in the first reading. That’s what the Alpha film series is all about: the core message of Christianity.

Bringing people to Alpha is a concrete and practical way to obey the final commandment Jesus gave to his Church and every one of the baptized: “Make disciples of all nations...” (Mt. 28:19)

Last and least, the only way to reverse the decline in the membership of our parish is by inviting people to “come and see” what Jesus is doing here.

I hope I have made the “four-e” case for Alpha: it’s an effective and easy way to become engaged and to evangelize. But I do have something to say to the fellow who finds such a strong case a bit “creepy,” and to anyone else who worries that we oversell Alpha.

Although promoting something urgent has to be focused and frequent, I don’t want to give anyone the impression that it’s “Alpha or else”!

It’s not.

Of course you can share your faith in numerous ways other than Alpha. Some of our parishioners have a tremendous gift for giving personal witness to Christ, even with strangers.

Of course you can invite people to Mass, especially at Christmas. One of the women I baptized at Easter began her journey when coworkers asked her to come with them to Midnight Mass.

But one-on-one evangelization is challenging for most of us—a lot more challenging than inviting someone to an Alpha dinner or coming out to help.

And of course you can offer your daily sufferings and prayers for the work of evangelization, especially if life is demanding and you have few opportunities to invite someone to Alpha, much less volunteer.

So it’s not “Alpha or else,” even if our enthusiasm sometimes makes it sound that way. What I have tried to get across is that doing something to share your faith, whether it’s through Alpha or not, is a duty. An obligation. A Christian commitment.

Hearing that is really what can rattle people, I think. Alpha just makes our duty hard to ignore, because it offers such an easy way to fulfill it.

An American pastor once said “if our vision is not so big that it scares the living daylights out of us, it may be insulting to God.” (Divine Renovation, 282)

I may have scared the fellow who fears we are secret Scientologists. But I know we have not insulted God by embracing a vision big enough to live up to our Christian call, change our Catholic culture, and renew our parish.

Because “we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
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* Since 2012, we’ve welcomed over 1200 guests. Last year’s post-Easter Alpha attracted 150, and the current Alpha has 100—more of them unfamiliar faces than in the past.

We have three whole tables of younger adults, and 38 guests identified themselves as “searching/spiritual/skeptical" versus Catholic, a clear indication that this Alpha is starting to draw in "unchurched people and non-Catholics.”