Last weekend a Church of England vicar received a standing ovation from a thousand-strong Catholic crowd at what was billed as the evangelisation event of a generation. Twenty Catholic bishops were among those who attended Proclaim ’15, a national initiative launched by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in Birmingham, to hear an address by the Revd Nicky Gumbel, pioneer of the Alpha Course, (see section at foot of this page).Around the world, a growing number of Catholic parishes now use the course, a 10-week introduction to Christianity. The Church here sees in Alpha a way of realising the evangelising zeal demanded by Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. According to Fr Christopher Jamison, director of the National Office for Vocation, who
16 July 2015, The Tablet
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User Comments (1)
I have attended Alpha courses run by our local Anglican Church and they are brilliant! I am a very enthusiastic supporter of ecumenism on the grounds of if we don't stand together we fall. Alpha galvanizes communities, we all make friends and find everything which encourages us on the road. . . so go for it! Jesus gets talked about – lovely. He gets the publicity he needs to get all us walking together in the right and easy direction to Heaven! Well done Nicky Gumbell! I am a very practicing RC and I welcome any route which makes things simple for us all to live happily here on earth and reach the joys promised by our dear Lord in his own Kingdom.