YOU might have seen in the national press some research carried out on the surprising number of people who have begun to pray or accessed online church services during the lockdown even though they've not stepped inside a church for years?

In response to this Crediton Congregational Church is running an Alpha course on Zoom.

Alpha is a chance to explore big questions about life, faith, purpose, and God in an informal, low pressure environment.

Normally the Alpha course is run in the church, with a meal also enjoyed at the church during the evening.

This time, those who join the course will have to provide their own food, but the pay-off is that the sessions are only an hour long and you don't have to leave the comfort of your own home to take part!

The Alpha evening involves watching a 20-minute presentation together, which focusses on one aspect of Christianity.

Then those taking part split into smaller groups for open conversations about what they have seen and what questions it raises for people.

This is always regarded as the best part of the evening. It is fun getting to hear about each other's lives and experiences and often great friendships are started, too.

If you would like to take part, the course begins this Thursday, May 21, at 8.15pm. If you are interested, please email James at: [email protected] . You will be sent the Zoom link on Thursday morning. 

If you google "Alpha" you'll find interesting reviews of it in the press.

Also, you can view a promo video, which gives you a good tasted of what the presentations in the sessions are like.

The link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fViYK_Xb3Wg .