Over the weekend of 31 January and 1 February, parishioners from across Sydney and beyond, gathered for Alpha Coaching Days, designed to prepare the next wave of Alpha leaders as missionary disciples at the heart of parish renewal.
“Each time a parish prepares to run Alpha, teams are encouraged to come together first for coaching,” said organiser, Tania Rimac, from the Parish Renewal Team within the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation and leader of Alpha in a Catholic Context in NSW. “Alpha Coaching Days support parishes and communities so that teams are equipped spiritually, pastorally and practically, to share the Good News and help foster an encounter with Christ in the best possible way.”
Alpha is an evangelisation tool designed to share the foundation of the Christian faith in a welcoming, non-judgmental, and informal environment.
This year’s Alpha Coaching Day was held at St Martha’s, Leichhardt, drawing teams from Sydney and other dioceses, including Wollongong and Parramatta. Participants included existing teams refreshing their training as well as parishes, such as Auburn and Croydon, who were exploring how Alpha can support the evangelising mission in their parish and understand best practices to run fruitful Alphas.
Tania notes that Alpha coaching has been running for several years now, and “each year the numbers keep growing,” which she sees as a clear sign of “a real hunger for people to be equipped for mission.” People “have a desire to go out and share the good news,” she says, “and Alpha provides a concrete way to do that within the life of the parish community.”
Alongside the main gathering, a second Alpha Coaching Day was held for the Mandarin-speaking community in Flemington, with an interpreter present throughout, so participants could fully engage with the training.
“Almost 30 people attended this session, reflecting the dynamism of the Chinese Catholic community, which has been running Alpha for several years as part of its RCIA process,” said Tania. “This community is now one of the larger groups within the Archdiocese of Sydney presenting catechumens for baptism at Easter. They find Alpha an easy way to come together as a community and share the good news, before they start forming their people in the catechesis.”
A key message of the weekend was that Alpha must never stand alone. “One of the keys with Alpha in a Catholic context, for it to be run well, is that it is imperative that it is embedded into the parish as part of a wider strategy for ongoing evangelisation and catechesis,” Tania insists.
“When people come to Alpha, they’re quite energised and excited about what they’ve experienced. Many have an encounter Christ for the first time or have a renewed sense of faith. We want to ensure that we continue to walk with them and invite them to the next step of their faith journey. If they are not baptised, we would invite them into RCIA. If they are already baptised, we can invite them onto the Alpha team or something else in the parish, like a Bible study, according to their personal need at that time.”
Far from being limited to a single demographic, Alpha Coaching Day attracts “a really good cross section of demographics” – young and old, across many different backgrounds. Tania stresses the importance of inviting young people not only to attend Alpha but to serve in mission on Alpha teams.
Ultimately, the growth in numbers, the diversity of attendees, and the new parishes joining Alpha Coaching Day all point to something deeper than the success of an Alpha.
“I think it points to a desire, an ignition of the heart for others to hear the Good News, and Alpha is just that tool that we can use,” Tania reflects.
Ordinary Catholics are stepping forward to be formed as missionary disciples, taking up their responsibility as the baptise faithful and are stepping out in faith to lead Alpha and help renew their parishes from the inside out.”
To learn more about Alpha email tania.rimac@sydneycatholic.org.
