Alpha Ireland has reported 20% growth in its Catholic programmes this year, with more than 50 parishes now taking part in its initiatives.
“This year, we are seeing growth of about 20% in the Catholic context with over 50 Catholic parishes running Alpha, Alpha Youth, the Marriage and Parenting Courses,” Julie O’Donnell of Alpha Ireland told The Irish Catholic.
A further 50 Catholic schools are running Alpha Youth, while the organisation has launched ‘Alpha in a Catholic Context’, tailored to Irish parishes.
Ms O’Donnell said established parish programmes were seeing “more and more people with no faith at all showing up to Alpha and encountering Jesus for the first time”.
She hopes marriage and parenting courses will also help reach parents “who aren’t attending Mass but need support in their families”.
The figures come ahead of Alpha Ireland’s conference at Open Arms Church, Sandyford, Dublin, on November 7. Keynote speaker Fr Mathias Thelen, co-founder of Encounter Ministries in Michigan, will discuss how Alpha has flourished in his parish. The Encounter School of Ministry has campuses in Galway and Donegal.