Alpha is crucial to our mission. As our primary tool for evangelization, it draws many to both St. Ignatius and St. Willibrord, and more importantly, to Jesus. As a safe space to explore life’s biggest questions, many rediscover or deepen their faith. For others, Alpha becomes the starting point to a new lifelong journey.
In 2023, we welcomed over 200 registered guests across all our Alphas. St. Willibrord even had to move their second Alpha ever to the hall to accommodate everyone! While there was an increase in participation across all ages, we saw notable growth in the under 40 demographic (up to 51% of our registered guests). Knowing that our parishes, due to location and community culture, tend to attract students, young professionals, and young families, we had adjusted our outreach strategy to appeal to this specific target audience in 2023.
As an evangelization tool, reaching out to those who do not know Jesus is very important. In 2023, we saw a small increase of unchurchedregistered guests. The Unchurched—those who rarely or have never attended any form of church—made up to 31% of our registered guests. So far, our outreach has slowly, yet surely increased with every Alpha.
At St. Willibrord, some of the Alpha guests came out of outreach efforts in its Food Bank and Soup Kitchen. In its most recent Alpha, St. Willibrord even added a francophone table to meet local demand! Alpha continues to open up our parishes and its people to different, and exciting possibilities.