This is an email sent out today on the Itchen List with Video links referred to below

Dear Neighbours,

Last Summer in the Who Cares Survey, you helped us a lot by being really honest about answering our one question anonymous survey ‘What hurts the most?’.  We may live in a beautiful place with some wonderful people, in the dynamic communities of the villages of the Itchen Valley, but it is still clear (from the results of the survey) that quite a large proportion of us are not flourishing in the way that God intended when he made us, whatever we may choose to reveal to our neighbours.

On September 18th this year, Itchen Valley Parish are holding the introductory supper for a series of sessions which I believe will be the starting point for many in being able to step beyond what currently hurts the most.  It is called Alpha.  Links to two short videos follow which explain a bit about Alpha.  Alpha will run on Tuesday evenings in Itchen Abbas between 18th September and early December.

Now you may have one of a number of reactions to this – one is not to be interested in the very least.  That is absolutely fine by the way!  Please just delete this email and forget I sent it! Most of all please don’t attend out of any sense of wanting to support me – this is not one of those occasions.

The other possibly reaction maybe just a little spark of interest.  If you have that, I believe that you may be being invited!  You will be very welcome even if you have major misgivings about going on a course like this or even about Christians.  I certainly did when I attended Alpha in Tokyo back in the 1990s, so I quite understand!  You will be welcome because you are our neighbours, whatever you think, however radical or however conventional and whoever you are!  You will be completely free to speak out your views during the group discussions!

But if you do think that you would like to come to the introductory supper on September 18th just to check it out – please do let me know so that I can deliver an invitation to you and make sure we have enough food!  If it doesn’t suit – there is no need to come back to another session and no one will follow you up afterwards!

Best wishes

Alex

Revd. Alex Pease