Alpha Course and Nicky Gumbel

The Alpha course is a basic introduction to Christianity supported by churches of many Christian traditions.

The Alpha course has been led by the clergy at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB)
The Alpha course was started in 1977 by Charles Marnham, a curate at (HTB), a parish of the Church of England in London.

It was a course a originally meant for church members to help them with the basics of belief commonly held by believers in Christ. It then developed into an introduction for those interested in knowing about Christianity.

John Irvine in 1981, a curate at HTB, took over the course and developed it into the 10 week course which continues to this day.

Nicky Lee in 1985 and then Nicky Gumbel (1990 - present) , then took over the reigns in the UK. In 1996 the Bishop of London appointed Nicky Gumbel as Alpha Chaplain. Nicky, at the time was still the curate at HTB. In 2005, when the previous vicar Sandy Millar retired, Nicky was installed as vicar of HTB.

Under his leadership the course was transformed/developed from one designed for new Christians to one primarily for those outside the church who would not consider themselves Christians.

Nicky has written a number of books related to The* Alpha* course.
Questions of life - sold 1 million copies, published in 48 languages & voted Christian Book of the year 1994. Plus 7 more books.

In the USA Gerard Bramwell Long was responsible for the Alpha course from 2006-14 -(resigned due to daughter drowning).

The course grew rapidly in Britain in the 1990s. From 4 courses in 1991 to 2,5000 courses in 1995. In 1998, when it was at its peak, 10,500 courses. In 2001 it had fallen to 7,300.

In 2018 the Alpha website described the course as running in over 100 countries, in 100 languages and with 24 million having taken the course. The courses, developed by Nicky Gumbel, are being run by most Christian denominations, throughout the world, with some variation in course material.