Youth Alpha is split into three different ‘streams’, or ways of presenting the teaching material, making it suitable for different types of groups. This means that each course can be tailored to the young people it is attracting while still retaining the essential content and values of Alpha. All three streams are included in full in the Leaders Guide.

Which stream should we use?

Alpha-Tech

Alpha-Tech is for teenagers who enjoy discussing abstract ideas in groups and engage well with movie clips. Multimedia technology is used to explain the ideas discussed during the course. Alpha-Tech works well with older youth and teenagers who have some knowledge of Christianity.

Alpha-Active

Alpha-Active is aimed at younger youth. If your youth aren't so into books and get restless listening to talks, then this is the stream for your group. It’s called ‘active’ because each session involves games, drama sketches and activities to help the group interact with each other and learn more about Christianity at the same time.

Alpha-Lite

Alpha-Lite is designed for use in groups where the sessions must be shorter, which can include school lunchtime groups. It takes less time to prepare and present and so can be led by young people or less-experienced leaders. Short stories and testimonies are used to start discussions and challenge ideas. Alpha-Lite is about giving teenagers a chance to talk about themselves and their own lives in an open and honest environment.

Which stream should we use?

Take time to think about which stream would best suit your group and also your team’s skills and time. Try out one of the streams in its entirety or ‘mix-and-match’ parts of the different streams to meet your group’s needs. The different approaches are simply recommendations and are not intended to cramp your creativity.
To run any of these streams please get a copy of the Leaders’ Guide.

	Stream 1 'Alpha- Tech'	Stream 2 ‘Alpha-Active’	Stream 3 ‘Alpha-Lite’
Minimum time required	1 to 1.5 hours	1 to 1.5 hours	30 minutes
Teaching style	Abstract	Concrete	Gentle
Recommended age group	15–18	11–14	Schools
Presentation tools	Multimedia technology	Visual aids and drama	Story
Youth participation	Discussion	Activity	Exploration
Preparation level	High	High	Low