£1 million evangelising boost

Alpha launch campaign to woo Catholics
CARDINAL HUME has given "cautious approval" to a new initiative to promote Alpha courses in parishes across the country.
The Alpha course, which presents the basics of Christian faith to non-Church goers. began in the Anglican evangelical church of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), but has spread to almost 400 Catholic parishes in under two years.
A new nationwide initiative launched on Tuesday seeks to raise public awareness of the courses through a million pound advertising campaign, including billboard posters and half-page adverts in local newspapers.
David Payne, of the Catholic Alpha Office, said that the initiative will boost Alpha's growth among Catholics. He said: "It's not just a hype thing. It is grounding Alpha into the local community. It's helping local churches to reach out to the community. The lapsed and those who don't go to Church will be hearing about Alpha."
The rapid uptake of Alpha in Catholic parishes has provoked mixed reactions among Church authorities and catechists. Some believe it displaces the Church's official RCIA catechesis and neglects core Catholic teachings such as the sacraments and the teaching authority of the Church.
The Catholic Alpha Office was established in March 1996 to allay these fears. It has produced a video addressing the Mass and the Church
and a booklet entitled Alpha for Catholics?: Questions and Answers.
Anthony Clarke, director of the Westminster diocese's department for RE and catechesis, co-wrote the booklet. He believes that the Alpha course is still inadequately adapted to Catholic teaching. "Alpha is an incomplete presentation of the Catholic faith." he said. "If it can help with evangelisation we are for it. But we wouldn't impose it on any parish."
Ca te c he ti c al advisors are divided over Alpha's merits. "Some believe that if it is not an integral presentation of the Catholic faith, it should be left well alone. Others believe it should be judge() by its fruits."
Holy Trinity Brompton Church have asked Catholic parishes not to alter the contents of the course.
Rev Nicky Gumbel, Alpha Chaplain at HTB, said: "We want it to be possible for every Church to run it. We want to stick to the things about which we are agreed. Then afterwards denominations can add their own material. So Catholics add their Post Alpha Catholic Teaching,"
Cardinal Hume advised Anthony Clarke privately that the Church is giving the new initiative a "cautious approval". However, according to Mr Clarke, official approval will not be forthcoming "because of the incompleteness it will never get formal approval."
Rev Gumbel commented: "I think that Cardinal Hume very wisely waits to see the fruit of it. I think it's a biblical approach. You wait and you watch. I hope he will see the fruit."
The Vatican have been informed about the spread of Alpha in Catholic parishes. In January, David Payne briefed officials of the Pontifical Council for Laity of its remarkable growth.
The course has received the backing of the New Zealand Cardinal Thomas Williams and the Cardinal Archibi shop of Baltimore, William 1-1 Keeler. Catholic Alpha offices have also been established in Germany, the US, Holland, Ireland and South Africa. "It's really spreading into the Catholic world," David Payne said.