Alpha - the McDonaldization of Religion?

Abstract

"The success of the Alpha course makes it one of the religious phenomena of the generation. At the present moment around 7,500 courses are running world wide. 1 Behind these quite staggering numbers are individual clergy, congregations and Christian people who, perhaps for the first time, have found in Alpha a hope of realistic and achievable evangelism in their local communities. For these reasons alone it seems fairly clear that God is at work in and through Alpha. At the same time it would be foolish to ignore the cultural and social organisation which gives shape to this activity. To say that 'God is at work' does not preclude the possibility of cultural analysis of religious phenomena. Indeed a theology of Incarnation would demand both theological and social scientific perspectives. This paper is an attempt to describe the cultural characteristics of Alpha, the social 'enfleshment' within which the Spirit of God is currently at work. This is where comparisons with McDonalds start to make sense"