I am writing to encourage you to consider joining the Alpha Course which begins this Sunday at 9AM.

Last summer while on sabbatical I traveled to Washington DC to visit Truro Church, the parish that Chip and Claudia Hughes attended when they lived near there. It was a Sunday in the middle of August, so I wasn't expecting too much, but as soon as we drove onto the campus there was a palpable feeling that reminded me of entering a festival. There were people throwing frisbees on the lawn, and children laughing, and when we entered the church the choir and orchestra were warming up.

I have to say, it was quite an experience.

Truro is a vibrant parish which is bursting at the seams - which is terrific to see in this day and age. One of the things that they consistently do to maintain their vibrancy is Alpha. Alpha "works" as a church growth and development tool, not because it's a gimmick, but because it's just a really well thought through short course to introduce or reintroduce someone to Christianity. It's smart, it's interesting, at times it's funny, and people from all backgrounds come away having learned something. And, a few people end up seeing their lives changed because of it.

Our vestry is committed to seeing St. Mark's grow. We have a few initiatives that we're working on, but Alpha is the capstone. Normally Alpha is done in the evening, and people from all over the community come. We thought we'd try doing it on Sunday mornings first for just St. Markers, so that we could see how it works, and to see if we could get a few people excited about doing it for the whole neighborhood.

We realize that for some - especially choir members and youth teachers - this is the worst time to put this on. But, this hopefully isn't the last time we're going to be doing this.

I've been slowly watching the short videos that form the core of the program, and I have to say that I'm pretty impressed. And, I truly hope that you will consider joining us for the journey. If for no other reason, perhaps you'd do it to help St. Mark's grow. But, you may just find that you grow in your faith quite a bit too.

Fr. Rick