Alpha

Alpha Course


Alpha Content

Alpha is an 11-week course that creates a space, online or in person, where people are excited to bring their friends for a conversation about faith, life and God.

About Alpha

Alpha is a series of sessions exploring the Christian faith. Each talk looks at a different question around faith and is designed to create conversation. Alpha is run all around the globe, and everyone’s welcome. It runs online, in cafés, churches, universities, homes—you name it. No two Alphas look the same, but generally they have three key things in common: hospitality, a talk and good conversation. 

Hospitality
Whether it’s a group of friends gathered around a kitchen table, or a quick online catch-up, times of connecting are important. It’s no different at Alpha. Whether in person over a meal or virtually with a cup of tea, all sessions start with a time to connect, relax and build friendships.
Talk
The talks are designed to engage and inspire conversation. Each talk is around thirty minutes long and given by a speaker or played as a video. They explore the big issues around faith and unpack the basics of Christianity, addressing questions from Who is Jesus? and How can we have faith? to Why and how do I pray? and How does God guide us?
Discussion
One of the most important parts of any Alpha: the chance to share thoughts and ideas on the topic, and discuss in a small group. There’s no obligation to say anything and there’s nothing you can’t say (seriously). It’s an opportunity to hear from others and contribute your own perspective in an honest, friendly and open environment.

Watch the Alpha Promotional Video

Next Alpha Course

Our next Alpha series starts on 18th May 2021

All I want for Christmas…

Our Christmas theme at Bethel this year is “ all I want for Christmas”. The theme didn’t come about by hearing Mariah Carey singing it! but by someone being interviewed about the general election and Brexit and saying “All I want for Christmas is…..confidence”.

As Christians no matter what the election result, and the possibility of leaving the European union, we have confidence, Hebrews 13:8 reminds us, there is only One who will never change:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

As Christians, lets pray leading up to election day. Lets make prayer our first response and not our last resort.

1. Let’s pray for our political leaders.
Being a political leader is no small task; the power of politics is paid in stress. As we consider the responsibility of our leaders, let’s pray for wisdom, health, and safety. Paul reminded Timothy to pray for his leaders in 1 Timothy 2:1-2
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

2. Let’s pray for wisdom for ourselves.
As Paul mentions in the verses above, Christians should long to reflect the love of Christ in our actions and opinions. When oppositional views are revealed, our responses should be spoken in loving kindness and truth. Doing this requires great wisdom that can only come from our heavenly Father. Ask the Lord to guide your heart and mouth during this election period so our thoughts and replies to align with His ways.

3. Let’s pray for our nation.
To pray for our nation as a whole brings us together as Christians and this unity is critical. Pray that truth would be the source for every political choice and that Christians would unite our hearts in prayer. Pray that the Truth of God’s Word would be the foundation of our nation and that hearts would turn to God as their guide. We can ask the Lord to help those who trust Him for eternal salvation to trust Him for everyday solutions, remembering Psalm 9:10 :
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.

4. Let’s praise God for He knows every detail of this election and He is still in control.
As the Psalmist says in the verse above, God has not forgotten His people. His Word promises that He will not abandon us, but will be with us, no matter what party wins and what choices are made. For His steadfast love, we can praise Him for being the One worthy of our trust!

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Hill House
Picton Terrace
Carmarthen UK
SA31 3BT

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What we learned from Soul Survivor

This summer, the youth headed to Soul Survivor Week B! 5 days of fun, food, camping, (not)showering and worshipping God.

The highlights

Perhaps more a low-light than a highlight (well – a highlight for the leaders!) was the day 4 morning meeting where Mike Pilavachi asked for everyone who hadn’t showered yet to stand. Let’s just say that the vast majority of our group stood up…

Unmissable this year was the self-service slushy machine. A selection of perhaps 12-14 slushy flavours to mix and match to your heart’s content. All the usual flavours were there like strawberry and lemon & lime, in addition to red bull! We’ve decided that Soul Survivor must hate youth leaders…

The worship

The worship needs a heading of it’s own. It was an amazing experience to worship God with 8,000 other young people and (not so young) youth leaders. We let ourselves go a bit and got lost in wonder. We also prayed for each other and saw God move in some incredible ways – even some healing both in our group and in others at the event.

God kept us all safe and the weather was fantastic the entire time.

Pumped for Soul Survivor 2019! Sign-up sheets will be available soon.

Love & fist pumps,

The Bethel Youth leaders

Youth 2017/18 in 2 minutes

2017/18 has been epic at Bethel Youth! Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane to recap on what we’ve been up to…

So we started out as we meant to go on – a mini Olympics followed by a monster pudding party. A good balance, don’t you think? Who remembers the rivalry of our season of Red Vs Blue? Two house teams going head to head each week from active group games to who-can-make-the-best-queen-made-out-of-plasticine. Obviously! Keep your eyes and ears out for Red Vs Blue 2018/19!

We had Christmas with a difference – no traditional takeaway and Santa visit like in the past. No! We took on a mystery murder evening challenge. Did you work out who killed Santa?!

Then there was the all-you-can-eat Toby Carvery (*mouth watering*), May the Fourth and rock climbing socials.

One of our biggest values in Bethel Youth is RESPECT. We talked a lot about respecting each other, watching out for our friends going through difficult times, and respecting ourselves in a big online world. We also took time on Sundays to talk about who God really is, things to learn from John’s first letter, and we started thinking about how to be open with others about our faith.

We welcomed year 6 newbies in to Bethel Youth at the end of June, took our first Bethel Youth trip to Spree, and waited hand-and-foot on 80-ish hungry guests at our curry fundraiser!

What about new additions? Did you send your pics and tweets to our live social media board on Friday? Has the new XBox One been a good addition? How much do you love Pit? Have you joined us on SnapChat?

It’s safe to say it’s been a good year – and it’s not over yet! The best might be yet to come as we head to the penultimate Soul Survivor Week B!

Who’s excited about Bethel Youth 2018/19?!

Keep in the loop on Facebook, Istagram, SnapChat, WhatsApp & church.me.uk/youth

Much love & fist pumps,

Bethel Youth Leaders