HolySpiritAwayDay1CF
Norwich churches unite for Holy Spirit Alpha day

Three Norwich churches teamed up to run a joint ‘Holy Spirit day’ as part of their Alpha courses on March 11 for around 120 people.

By Helen Baldry

 

The Alpha course is an introduction to Christianity for people who are exploring their faith and for new Christians.  Many churches throughout Norfolk run Alpha courses or similar programmes. The course follows a weekly theme where participants discuss a topic and enjoy a meal together. The leaders of Soul church, Kings and St Thomas decided to unite for the day long event where people find out what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, about the gifts of the spirit and how they are used in our lives and in the church.

HolySpiritAwayDay2CFThe three churches hold their alpha courses separately in their own premises during the week and saw this as an ideal way to get people together to build a rapport and relationship between the three churches. Participants had a chance to meet with people from other churches and to see that the churches are united.

Stuart Riddington, who is on the leadership team at Soul church said, “The Holy Spirit empowers our lives to become more like Christ. Doing this event as united churches shows we want to see the gifts of the Holy Spirit used for the wider church, not just individually.”  

The day involved talks, a DVD followed by discussion in groups and some live music as well as refreshments and lunch courtesy of Kings church.

There was a very positive response to the day and people were relaxed, clearly enjoying themselves and were moved by the Holy Spirit at work. This joint Alpha approach in a different and busier venue enabled people to step out of the their comfort zone and be more open.

This is a great example of churches working together to see Norwich changed.

Pictured: L-R the leaders from the churches -Bea Petty, Dave Lloyd, Ailsa McGee, Ian Dyble, Stuart Riddington, Toby Skipper
Below - one of the Alpha discussion groups