Evangelical Alpha program gets heads-up in General Assembly report By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, May 26, 2004 With a word of caution about understanding the Reformed perspective on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the General Assembly Council has given a heads-up to Presbyterian congregations that are using – or will consider using – the international Alpha program to tell non-Christians about Christ. Last year, the 215th General Assembly considered an overture seeking the denomination's endorsement of Alpha. Commissioners referred the overture to the General Assembly Council, which sought help from the denomination's Office of Theology and Worship. In a report to the 216th General Assembly, item 09-06 on the agenda of the Assembly Committee on Evangelism and Higher Education, the General Assembly Council essentially sanctioned Alpha, but added two recommendations: 1. That the denomination "continue to publish and make available Alpha: From a Reformed Perspective" as a guide to Presbyterian congregations. 2. That it continue to make available on the PCUSA Web site a theological statement titled "The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit with Special References to 'The Baptism of the Holy Spirit.'" The council said a study by the PCUSA's Office of Research Services and an evaluation by the Office of Theology and Worship concluded that "the overall response to congregations that use Alpha is that it is a helpful evangelistic tool that is consistent with the Reformed tradition." "Congregations report that Alpha has been helpful both in introducing non-Christians to Christian faith and helping members and leaders to grow in their understanding and experience of Christian faith," the report said. "Alpha appears to be easy for congregations to set up and use. Moreover, the fact that it is not produced by the Presbyterian church is seen by some as an advantage: the Christian faith is presented without seeming to be 'branded' Presbyterian." The report also said the Office of Theology and Worship concluded that the Alpha materials "do not conflict in any major way with the broad stream of the Reformed tradition. The materials focus clearly on the person of Jesus Christ and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. While the sacraments are not central to the course, the presentation of baptism was adequate." Nonetheless, the report raised some concern about Alpha's teaching on "How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit." Thus, the General Assembly Council recommended that congregations using Alpha also consider the 1971 Presbyterian Church U.S. statement about "The Baptism of the Holy Spirit." The PCUS, then the Southern branch of what became the PCUSA in 1983, produced that document in response to the charismatic renewal that was sweeping across all major denominations. The PCUS response said that the movement, with its claims of people experiencing a second baptism, speaking in tongues, and empowered to cast out demons and do miracles "… raised some critical problems for our Church, and especially for those congregations in which the events have occurred. In the first place, we have tended to stress the work of the Spirit in the life of the believer as uniting the believer to Christ and thereby bringing to him God's grace in salvation. Justification has been viewed as the initial work of the Spirit in applying to man the benefits of Christ's work, and sanctification as the ongoing work of the Spirit in completing the divine purpose by transforming a human life more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. But in this contemporary experience of the Spirit there seems to be testimony to an additional working of the Spirit that goes beyond the initiation of Christian life (justification) and its progress (sanctification) – "baptism" or "filling" with the Holy Spirit. "The critical question here is how, in the light of the Biblical witness and the Reformed tradition, this understanding is to be adjudged. In the second place, problems of another kind also arise from the situation to which we have referred. When some members of a congregation claim special pneumatic experiences, or claim extraordinary gifts – healing, speaking in tongues – the peace, unity, and fellowship of the Church may be seriously jeopardized. Differing views of the Spirit and his work may give rise to a schism between those who claim a Spirit baptism and those who do not, or between those who recognize the validity of such claims and those who do not. Obviously our Church ought to provide some guidance in these matters where strong differences of opinion may result in contention and the disruption of the Church's work." That document continues with a detailed Scriptural and confessional study of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

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