"Evangelism for ordinary people"
Nicky Gumbel has developed Alpha course into popular outreach
By
Debra Fieguth
ChristianWeek staff
VANCOUVER–"I’m not a natural evangelist," said Nicky Gumbel as he opened the first training session at the October 23-24 Alpha conference. "I find it very hard to talk to my friends about Christ. Most of my attempts have been disastrous."
Depending on how you look at it, his words are either astonishing or encouraging. Astonishing because the Alpha program he runs from Holy Trinity Brompton in central London is one of the most effective evangelistic movements in the world. Encouraging because he gives the impression that if he can share his faith, then anyone can.
The self-effacing Gumbel, 42, has been developing and refining the introduction-to-Christianity course for seven years. Although Alpha has been going for about two decades, under Gumbel’s hand it has grown from a Bible study for new Christians into an evangelistic outreach.
"Alpha is evangelism for ordinary people," Gumbel explained in an interview. While he reserves the label "evangelist" for people like Billy Graham, Gumbel adds that all Christians are required to pass on the message of God’s love, "but we need help."
"I do have a desire to communicate my faith with people. That’s something so many people have, and this is a way they can do it which isn’t impossibly difficult."
But Gumbel’s personality and his gift of communicating clearly go a long way in helping others to share their faith. Gumbel is the face and voice on videotapes used worldwide in Alpha courses. The skills he honed as a barrister are useful, says Alpha advisor David Oliver of Montreal, when he presents the gospel in an enticing and persuasive manner.
Gumbel in private is the same as Gumbel in public, Oliver adds. "He’s just as warm and concerned [in individual conversations] as you hope he might be."
"Extraordinary week"
Gumbel’s own first encounter with genuine Christianity took place in 1974, when he was in his first year of university. In one "extraordinary week, all my close friends became Christians."
One of the first was his roommate, Nicky Lee, who attended a mission at Cambridge University. Gumbel began to read through the New Testament in order to set his friend straight. "It didn’t quite work that way." Within 48 hours, Gumbel had also accepted Christ.
In fact, there were five friends, all called Nicky. "We all became Christians within a year."
Nicky Lee, who ran the Alpha program for four years before Gumbel took over, is still on staff at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB).
But it has been under Gumbel’s leadership that the Alpha course has really caught on worldwide. "What has surprised us more than anything is how transferable the material is," he says. "It amazes me how people are using the videos in prisons and all these cultural contexts."
The Alpha course at HTB now attracts more than 600 people a week. Gumbel and HTB vicar Sandy Millar spend a portion of each year training Alpha leaders at conferences around the world.
Still, Gumbel finds time to be chaplain to the 4,000 staff at Harrods, located within the HTB parish. And even through that contact, some Harrods staff have attended the course and come to know Christ.
