2025 Year in Review
USA
WHERE FREEDOM LIVES
Curated in collaboration with GRAMMY®-winner Matt Redman and featuring artists from Alpharooted churches, this album is more than music—it’s a spiritual companion to the Alpha journey.
Listen to it on your favorite platform.
Mission
Alpha equips and serves the Church in its mission to help people discover and develop a relationship with Jesus.
Vision
The Evangelization of the Nations. The Revitalization of the Church. The Transformation of Society.
Values
We are passionate about unity.
We are by the Church and for the Church.
We believe the Church and Alpha guests deserve the best.
We are generous.
Globally
2.8 million people participated in Alpha across 158 countries (31% YOY increase)
105,367 Alpha courses took place (29% YOY increase)
45% of all courses were for young people under 25
52,424 churches organizations, and individuals ran Alpha (21% YOY increase)
16% of all churches running Alpha were Catholic
20% of all Alpha courses used a contextualized version
68 Alpha offices
100+
languages
14.4 million people
from 238 countries have experienced the Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel app since 2010
418,000 people
used the Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel app in 2025, and 161,000 of those were based in the U.S.
You helped reach my community
Mission Church’s story
Jon Peacock and Tommy Bowman planted Mission Church in Bloomingdale, Illinois, in 2011. Fifteen years later, Mission Church has grown to welcome 3,000 people in services each week.
In 2017, Dan Ruta, the executive pastor, and Jon were guests on an Experience Alpha trip to London. During that trip, Jon and Dan caught the vision of how Alpha could help the church reach their community.
“The Alpha course is such a big part of our story at Mission Church,” said Jon. “I was leading with the weight of the world on my shoulders. I felt like it was up to me.
Alpha came along at the perfect time for me, personally, as a leader, to teach me a different way of leading.
The Alpha course has really shaped me as a leader when it comes to the Spirit-dependent life.”
The church started running Alpha in 2017 with 40 guests. It has grown to host 700 people in each Alpha session, which is hosted twice a year. In the fall of 2025, 150 students participated in Alpha Youth, and two students were running Alpha Youth programs in their high schools. The church collaborated with a local business to offer Alpha in both Spanish and English and hosted a Polish table.
“Spirit-dependent leadership, prayer becoming pervasive all around the church, a culture of invitation, and discipleship of the congregation all increased because of Alpha,” said Dan.
Mission Church serves as a hub church for Alpha USA and has hosted national training labs for other churches. The church hosts “Come and See” events for ministries exploring Alpha.
“God’s hand is on the Alpha course,” said Jon. “To invest in it, to see it continue to grow and reach more people, to me, is one of the most exciting things you can invest in.”
A
family transformed
Kevin described himself as a “militant atheist” who only believed in science and regularly argued with Christians about the existence of God. Over the years, Kevin achieved goal after goal in his personal life, but he never felt satisfied.
After the birth of his son, Kevin noticed that his Christian friends “had a wonderful community and were oddly at peace.” He decided to attend church so his son would have that kind of community, and, shortly after, a friend invited Kevin to Mission Church.
661,101
Participants (28% YOY increase)
20,783 Courses run (28% YOY increase)
9,920
Churches and ministries have run Alpha (22% YOY increase)
Estimated for 2025.
Kevin began listening to podcasts and reading the Bible so he could better understand the sermons. He and his wife, Stevie, decided to take Alpha as he sought to understand the Christian perspective.
Through Alpha, Kevin and Stevie came to faith and were baptized! Kevin invited his mother, and she came to faith. Kevin’s two brothers, Brian and William, were initially bothered
St. Clement Parish’s story
St. Clement Parish started running Alpha online in 2020 during the pandemic. Father Peter Wojcik, the pastor, said, “People had no place to go, and they were lonely and needed community.”
Their first Alpha had around 20 people, and soon, 200 people were participating in different Alpha groups. When people began attending church in person again, Father Peter knew they needed to offer Alpha.
“Alpha is THE tool to shape our culture, to bring people into a relationship with Jesus, and to train our future leaders,” Father Peter said.
St. Clement is located in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and 65 percent of attendees are under the age of 30. Many people come to the church with very little experience of faith.
“In my experience, there is no other tool than Alpha that really teaches people how to have Christian conversations and how to have them in a respectful way that really uplifts people and brings them into community.
Alpha makes me a better listener.”
Several years ago, Father Peter’s mother was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. During the Alpha session on healing, Father Peter and another Alpha leader prayed for his mother. The next day, Father Peter was praying, and he heard God say, “I took care of the tumor.” Three days later, his mother had scans, and the tumor was gone.
“On a leadership level, Alpha gives me the energy to do the parts of ministry that I’m not excited about, because I see God at work in people’s lives every week.”
“I can’t even imagine running a church with no Alpha.”
“Alpha has helped many of our parishes be on mission, reaching those who may not typically attend a parish event. I endorse Alpha as a great way to share the good news of Jesus Christ and help parishes welcome others to our one true home, the church.”
Bishop Ronald A. Hicks, Diocese of Joliet
2,625 Courses run in the context of a Catholic community (29% YOY increase)
1,250 Catholic parishes have run Alpha (17% YOY increase)
628 parishes represented in the four partnerships with the dioceses of Joliet and Cincinnati and the archdioceses of New York and San Francisco 1,275 leaders participated in Catholic Context events
Estimated for 2025.
You helped reach my friends
Maggie’s story
“It’s given me purpose”
When Maggie retired, she was looking for a way to serve. She was asked to run Alpha, and she said no. Later that year, she attended an Alpha Conference. During worship, she heard God say, “This is what I want you to set your hand to.”
Over the past 13 years, she has led 29 Alphas and hosted more than 2,000 guests. It has transformed the congregation.
Maggie serves as a volunteer and coordinates a team of 50 hosts, helpers, and a kitchen team to serve the more than 100 guests who attend each Alpha. She said, “So many of the current Alpha leaders came to faith on Alpha and had their lives completely changed.”
Maggie developed a course called Next for participants to take when Alpha ends. The course is a discipleship tool designed to help people grow in their faith and begin reading the Bible. People who found community in their Alpha group continue to meet in Next, which has helped guests form friendships and not feel alone in a large congregation.
Maggie also leads a short-term mission trip every year to the Ngabe people group in Panama. They run Alpha in Spanish on generators and discuss faith with the local people. She said, “Alpha is bringing solid teaching to a largely isolated people group.”
“We have seen salvation come to the lost, lives transformed, people healed, and skeptics become leaders. Entire families have been transformed,” Maggie said. “God has used my gifts of leadership, organization, and relational skills to lead Alpha. It’s given me purpose.”
“Alpha has significantly impacted the way we do ministry by helping us prepare a space for people to engage in community even before they believe. It’s helped us to more fully rely on God to transform people’s lives as we join the work of the Holy Spirit and put into practice the gifts of listening, hospitality, and prayer. I’m always excited to invite people to Alpha, because I know they will be well taken care of and that they will have an opportunity to encounter the person of Jesus in a welcoming place!”
Yhoshua Ticum, Connections Pastor, The Naz Church, Grove City, OH
Isaac’s story
God's
movement at universities
When Isaac enrolled at Purdue University to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering technology, he found himself seeking a community. His girlfriend invited him to Alpha at Purdue Christian Campus House, and he decided to try it.
“Alpha really changed my perspective on the Christian faith as a whole,” he said. “I could feel that the people around me genuinely cared about me more than any other group of friends I’d had.”
Isaac attended Alpha each week. During the weekend away, he said, “I felt an overwhelming sense of love. Coming out of the weekend, I felt changed. I was going through a hard time in my life, and I felt very peaceful and loved while I was there.”
“Before I came to faith, I didn’t really have a purpose, plan, or passion. I found myself feeling empty. Jesus has changed my life in so many ways. He has brought me a community that is so deeply loving and caring. He has filled me with joy that I had never experienced before.”
Isaac was baptized after Alpha. He moved into a Christian men’s housing unit that serves as an outreach to students. He has served as an Alpha host and participates in outreach events through the church.
“Jesus taught me a lot about being patient and loving with people. Before, I had a really high ego, and Jesus has taught me to humble myself to allow me to love people for who they are rather than what they do.”
“I could feel that the people around me genuinely cared about me more than any other group of friends I’d had.”
You are helping save marriages
The Marriage Course at Church of the City
Church of the City is a multi -campus church in Tennessee that has been running The Marriage Course twice a year for the last five years. Hundreds of couples have participated in the course, and Community Life Pastor Brad Harris has seen marriages saved.
“Change happens in relationships,” Brad said. “It’s so important for people to be connected to each other, so we encourage people to join a small group. The Marriage Course, our women’s ministry, our teen ministry, and Alpha are great middle grounds for people to meet other people in a smaller group. The return on our investment is so high every time. I can’t imagine ever not doing this.”
1,229 Courses on a campus
75 Campuses running Alpha
Estimated for 2025.
An estimated 59,401 people have participated in The Marriage Course in the U.S. in the last five years.
Sara’s Story
Experiencing true freedom
Sara* came to Alpha in the Douglas County Jail, carrying deep depression and confusion about who God really is. “She had questions, doubts, and pain— but she kept showing up,” said Jen, who leads Alpha with a team from Cherry Hills Community Church in Colorado. “Week after week, the Holy Spirit gently led her heart closer to Jesus.”
During the Alpha weekend, Sara gave her life to Jesus! She began inviting other inmates to Alpha.
After her release, Sara attended the reentry programs and weekly services at Cherry Hills. She decided to be baptized and participates in a weekly Bible study, often bringing other women who are seeking hope and healing.
“Sara goes out of her way to pick up newly released women from jail who are now attending Alpha at a local halfway house,” said Jen. “Her life is proof of what God can do when someone simply says ‘yes’ to Jesus.”
*Pseudonym used for privacy.
Gen Z leading the way
Hannah was looking for an evangelism resource that could be student-led, and her pastor suggested Alpha Youth. She said, “Alpha met every aspect I was looking for in a resource.”
“My friends and I felt moved that people were hesitant to talk about their faith, even though we were at a Christian school,” she said. “We wanted to have some kind of space to learn more, wherever we were on our faith journeys.”
Hannah and some friends ran Alpha Youth for their freshman class at Hawaii Baptist Academy. She said, “It was fun to be able to lead it with my friends and see our classmates come and have a good conversation.”
“It brought a lot of different people together,” she said. “The group consisted of both Christians and atheists. It was cool to see how everyone could grow, no matter where they were.”
“There was one student who was very open that he didn’t believe in God. God put him on my heart to invite, and I did,” she said. “He came and brought some of his friends. Over time, he started asking questions, and over a year later, he came to faith.”
Hannah and her friends ran Alpha Youth again during their sophomore year, and she serves as the Student Spiritual Life Officer as a junior. She recruited additional students and teachers to help, and the entire student body will participate in Alpha Youth this year.
“I learned that, when God gives me an assignment, it’s not all on me to do. It’s not Hannah’s project. It’s all God doing the work,” she said. “No matter what I did, God worked through every single part.
My mistakes aren’t going to interrupt God’s plan.”
285,848 Participants (74% YOY increase)
8,813
Alpha Youth courses run (74% YOY increase)
4,197
Churches and ministries have run Alpha Youth (50% YOY increase)
Estimated for 2025.
You helped prepare leaders
Sylvia’s Story
Bringing Alpha to the nations
Sylvia and her husband served as missionaries in Japan for 20 years before returning to the U.S. and settling in Bellevue, Washington, in 2001. They began to attend Westminster Chapel, and the church started running Alpha for the first time.
Westminster was located one mile from Microsoft headquarters, and thousands of international workers were being hired as contract employees. Sylvia was hired to help the church know how to build bridges of evangelism to the ethnically diverse community in which the church was located.
Sylvia began to host a “United Nations” table at Alpha for non-English speakers. Over the years, the group expanded, and Sylvia and a friend developed a curriculum for ESOL Alpha.
They traveled all over the world, training churches how to run an ESOL Alpha, and they led multiple courses each year for a decade. She said, “At that time, eight out of every 10 baptisms at the church were Alpha guests.”
“The Lord prepared me after being in Japan and being a foreigner,” she said. “I understood the challenges of being new in a culture and could connect with people from other countries. I had the privilege of leading so many more Japanese to Christ through ESOL Alpha in Seattle, Washington, than I did in 20 years of direct ministry in Japan.”
Sylvia now serves as an Alpha coach and trainer for churches that are beginning to host Alpha. “I’m an Alpha-holic,” she said. “Every time I’m part of an Alpha, the Holy Spirit brings people who have a unique story. He’s entering their narrative, and we get a front row seat to see what he’s doing in their lives. I can’t think of anything more precious.”
“I think Alpha is a taste of heaven on Earth.”
Training U.S. Churches
The Alpha USA training team continued to expand the number of training events and developed new resources to equip leaders to run Alpha well. We released a new “Getting Started” video series to simplify the process of starting Alpha, Alpha in the workplace, or in prison. Our team hosted “Advance Your Alpha” training labs and held roundtable conversations and training specifically for Alpha in the workplace. Six updated national Alpha Training Labs were held in key cities, and other events were held to equip ministries to run Alpha, the new Alpha Youth Series, The Marriage Course, the Alpha day or weekend, and to serve as an Alpha coach.
“Alpha has changed the direction of conversation in our church and is starting to change our city. For a long time, the conversation has been a one-directional proclamation of truth, aimed at people. Now the conversation is turning around, and people are starting to feel heard, and that church is a safe place to step back into, or into for the first time.”
Jay Benson, Pastor of Serve Teams and Partnerships, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, CO
11,388
Leaders trained
4,820 Ministries represented
Estimated for 2025.
218 Training Events
The Alpha Conference
The Alpha Conference was held at Church of the City in Franklin, Tennessee, in July to equip leaders with the confidence and resources to evangelize their communities. More than 1,100 leaders gathered for training, worship, prayer, and fellowship. Thought leaders such as Jonathan Tremaine Thomas, Jay Pathak, Kara Powell, Matt and Beth Redman, and others explored effective ways to share the gospel in the diverse cultures within the U.S. and engage the rising numbers of Millennials and Gen Z who are seeking Jesus.
Please join us for The Alpha Conference, February 3-5, 2027, at Friends Church in Yorba Linda, California! Register at alphausa.org/the-alpha-conference.
1,100+ in attendance
315 churches
30 denominations 40 states 7 countries
“I registered for the Alpha conference so I could be a more effective Alpha leader in our parish. At the conference, I was overwhelmed by the realization that the Holy Spirit is there to fill me with his loving presence. I returned from the conference empowered by the Holy Spirit to lead our group and invite people I would never have invited before.”
An Alpha Conference attendee
Your generosity matters
Because of faithful partners like you, we continue to manage our operating budget with a surplus reserve. Learn more about Alpha USA and how your gifts impacted others in 2025 on our website at alphausa.org/yearinreview.
2025 Total Revenue:
$24,707,243
2025 Total Expenses
$24,582,177
Global Vision Fund: $20,558,838 Program Services: $19,911,564
General: $3,776,554
2025 U.S.-Specific Revenue
$9,396,538
$2,704,039
2025 U.S. Expenses $9,274,580
Contributions: $9,024,687 Program Services: $7,512,410
Publishing & Other: $371,851 Fundraising: $1,020,204
Publishing & Other: $371,851 General & Admin: $1,966,574 General & Admin: $741,966
Figures reflect gifts received during the fiscal year. Multi‑year pledges totaling $13,103,333 to be received over the next five years are not included.
“We’ve run Alpha courses at our college decades ago, in our home, and in our workplaces, and God always moves powerfully in the guests’ hearts. There are few things as truly joyful as watching someone move from death to life, and when we watch that unfold through an Alpha course, we often ask why we do anything else with our time and money! It is our honor to support Alpha and to join God in what He is doing around the country and the world.”
Heather Grizzle, Managing Partner of Causeway Strategies & Alpha USA Board Chair, and Ben Grizzle, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs
Platinum Seal outreach toolkit
Your prayers matter
Pray that God will grant us wisdom and discernment, combined with courage and love, as we navigate our cultural climate. Pray that in our mission to serve the whole Church, we would strike the right tone and use our voice in the most effective and fruitful way.
Pray that God will provide the resources needed to grow from equipping 10,000 churches, organizations, and individuals hosting Alpha to 12,000 in 2026.
Pray for God’s protection over all the teams, individuals, and church leaders who host Alpha.
Pray for the production of the new Alpha Series, which is scheduled for release in May 2027. Pray for our plans to roll out this new series across the U.S. and the world to reach millions more with the gospel.
Pray that God would guide and direct our efforts to serve students in the university context and the thousands of students who run Youth Alpha with their friends. Pray for new streams of adoption for Alpha Youth.
You can help everyone, everywhere, experience Alpha and encounter
Jesus
Your generous support helps people discover and develop a relationship with Jesus, and their lives are forever changed. Your gifts to Alpha USA provide the training and resources available at no cost to churches, organizations, and individuals that want to impact their communities with the good news in a good way, and we are grateful to God for your support.
Leave a Legacy with Alpha
Well-planned estate-giving strategies can help preserve the wealth you hope to leave to your loved ones while empowering the ministries you believe in. Bequests, IRA beneficiary designations, and insurance policies are just a few examples of ways you can make a difference. Donating appreciated assets like real estate or securities may allow you to avoid capital gains taxes and receive a charitable tax deduction.
Will you prayerfully consider continuing to support Alpha USA?
For more information about how you can leave a gift to Alpha USA through your estate or how to make a non-cash gift, please contact:
Christina Chappell, CDO christinachappell@alphausa.org
John Wentz, CEO johnwentz@alphausa.org
Make an immediate impact by giving securely on our website at alphausa. org/yearinreview2025
Alpha USA P.O. Box 7491 Carol Stream, IL 60197-7491
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Volunteer with Alpha USA and use your skills, interests, passions, and abilities to share the good news in a good way. alphausa.org/volunteer