A L P H A I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Alpha Global Report September 2026
Because of your generosity, we're one step closer to the day when everyone, everywhere has the chance to explore faith and encounter Jesus.
Thank you for fueling this movement — together, we're reaching more people, in more places, than ever before. Over the past 30-plus years, more than 38 million people have taken part in Alpha worldwide, and we are only gaining momentum. Churches, organizations, and individuals across the globe are being equipped to share the gospel through Alpha in ways that feel meaningful and culturally relevant to the communities they serve. In 2025 alone, an estimated 2.8 million people took part in one of 105,000 Alpha courses — the greatest scale and reach in Alpha's history. By mid-2026 we had already seen 1.5 million participants, putting us on track to reach 3 million by year's end.
38M+
158
700K+
People have taken part in Alpha over the last 30-plus years
Countries running Alpha courses in 2025
Volunteers serving as hosts, helpers, and prayer teams each year
Our vision is that by the end of 2033, everyone, everywhere, will have the opportunity to hear the gospel through Alpha in their own heart language and cultural context.
ALPHA GLOBAL REPORT — SEPT 2026
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R E G I O N A L U P DAT E S
Highlights from Across the Globe Throughout 2026, Alpha continued to reach new communities around the world — launching in new languages, engaging a new generation of young leaders, and deepening partnerships with churches and ministries across every region. The highlights below offer just a glimpse of what your partnership is making possible.
Africa Alpha's momentum across Africa continues to build. South Africa's Circles & Spaces gatherings drew 350+ youth leaders, Malawi hosted its first Alpha Youth Conference with 125 participants, and the DRC held its first-ever Alpha Conference, welcoming over 700 pastors. Rwanda introduced Alpha to more than 2,000 inmates at Musanze Prison. Kenya's YAGOH Conference (Youth After God's Own Heart) engaged 70+ young people from four dioceses, South Africa's national conference drew 340 leaders, Tanzania's conference brought together 651 participants from 532 churches, and Nigeria connected with 200+ student leaders at a missions conference. Sub-Saharan Africa remains a hub of youth-focused growth.
Asia Pacific Asia Pacific has seen breakthroughs in reaching new communities this year. India launched its firstever Marriage Course in Bengali, gathering 15 influential couples from 12 Kolkata churches; the Philippines saw a single course grow into a churchwide movement; and Vietnam launched its localized Alpha Youth Series to 500+ young leaders. Japan debuted its Japanese-dubbed Youth Series in Osaka with 49 participants from nine churches and Pakistan raised and equipped 98 strategic leaders across 5 cities and 80 churches. Spotlight: Alpha Asia-Pacific Conference 2026. This year's Alpha Asia-Pacific Conference (AAC26) united 3,000 people from 1,000 churches across 40 nations in worship, teaching, and celebration. Speakers including Nicky Gumbel, Nicky and Sila Lee, and Mark Varughese offered practical, faithfilled teaching. The conference cast vision for Alpha as a church-planting tool, a bridge to the workplace, and a way to empower youth.
Europe, the Middle East & North Africa (EMENA) EMENA has paired bold public witness with strategic growth this year. Over 6,000 gathered at Madrid's Movistar Arena for a night of worship and testimony earlier this year, Finland marked 30 years of ministry (now reaching 8,000+ people annually), and Ukraine launched its Youth Series despite wartime conditions. Leaders from nine countries completed a leadership cohort in Spain, Croatia and France launched the Youth Series (700 teenagers gathered in Lille, featuring footballer Olivier Giroud), and Kyrgyzstan hosted EMENA's first Experience Alpha. Alpha also featured prominently at Lithuania's World Apostolic Congress on Mercy, reaching 4,000+ participants.
Latin America Latin America has deepened both new and decade-long partnerships this year. Nicky Gumbel visited an Argentine federal prison and shared a message of hope. He then attended a leadership conference in Mexico City and shared the heart of Alpha with a 10,000-person audience. Colombia began integrating Alpha across all 126 parishes of the Diocese of Pereira and co-hosted its first-ever Evangelism Forum with 300 leaders from 70 churches. Argentina celebrated 10 years of ministry in Villa Valeria, Brazil rolled out Alpha within its Military Ordinariate (300 personnel completed the course), and Mexico partnered with "Hombre a Hombre," reaching 25,000+ men nationwide.
United Kingdom This year, the UK has built momentum through visibility and grassroots equipping. Highlights included a nationwide billboard campaign, in-person leader trainings across the North and Midlands, and growing engagement in secondary schools and Chinese-speaking churches — including three Brighton-area churches now running Alpha together for 300 people. Festival season brought thousands of young people to Summer Madness (Northern Ireland) and Spree (Southwest England), plus the sold-out NEXT Conference and This is Alpha: Encounter gatherings in Belfast and Sheffield, equipping leaders to minister in the Holy Spirit.
ALPHA GLOBAL REPORT — SEPT 2026
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K E Y P R O J E C T U P DAT E S
Building Alpha's Future This year has brought remarkable progress across Alpha's resources — each one designed, from the very beginning, to reach people in their own language, culture, and stage of life. Here's where things stand.
Alpha Youth Series
The Alpha Series
Since its launch, the Alpha Youth Series has become a significant global resource for youth ministry, reaching more than 1.2 million young people across 120+ countries. The series has been translated into 42 languages for global reach, with another 12 in the pipeline, meeting young people in their own language and cultural context.
The Alpha Film Series has sparked millions of conversations about faith since 2016, and this flagship resource is being boldly reimagined for a new cultural moment — 15 episodes exploring the same timeless questions of faith, plus a newly reframed episode, How Can Good Overcome Evil?
Contextualized versions are launching soon: Latin America and Brazil editions premiere in August across 19 cities, and a new Africa edition arrives with launch events in four countries. A new Schools Edition — sized to fit a lunch break — rolls out in Q3 2026 across six countries, driven by student-led Alphas and teens eager to invite their friends.
Filmed across 13 countries with a genuinely global cast including Nicky Gumbel, Stephen Foster, Xenia James, and Jesse Fellingham, the new Series launches at Alpha's Leadership Conference in May 2027 in London — where we'll also celebrate 50 years of Alpha — and is built from the outset for translation into nearly 80 languages.
The Marriage Course
The Parenting Course
Created by Nicky and Sila Lee, The Marriage Course and The Pre-Marriage Course continue to strengthen relationships at every stage, now reaching more than 1.7 million couples across 120-plus countries and 48 languages.
The Parenting Courses are being remade for global impact, reaching families across diverse cultures through relatable stories and practical, hope-filled content, built with translation and contextualization in mind from the ground up.
This year brought a new content marketing program for church leaders, growing engagement with UK dioceses and denominations, and steady development of a Marriage Course Online platform — now in its pilot phase, with a soft launch planned for early 2027.
The Parenting Children and Parenting Teenagers remakes reached a major milestone this year, with filming now complete across London, Kuala Lumpur, Australia, and the US — nearly 60 interviews capturing real stories of resilience, faith, and family life. The project is now in postproduction, with a global launch planned for 2027.
The Bible with Nicky & Pippa
Digital & Outcome Measurement
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel continues to draw people into Scripture in a way that is accessible and rooted in daily spiritual practice, reaching more than 1.5 million users in 2025 — with 90 percent reporting a positive impact on their faith.
A key update this year in Alpha's digital development is a new WhatsApp-based solution for Alpha course distribution in low-resourced countries, letting guests register for a course and access materials through a simple WhatsApp interface.
We're now redeveloping the app into a multi-format Bibleengagement tool for a younger generation, with shorter themed reading plans, improved audio, and deeper localization, launching in Q1 2027.
Starting in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, the solution is already live in a pilot in Colombia, with Kenya next — laying the groundwork for the contextualized Alpha Youth Series launching across both regions.
ALPHA GLOBAL REPORT — SEPT 2026
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A S TO R Y O F T R A N S F O R M AT I O N
Annet's Alpha Journey "I initially joined Alpha with hesitation and little expectation, struggling with isolation and a weakening faith. As we went through Alpha, I found a safe, non-judgmental space that helped me open up, connect with others, and honestly engage with questions about my faith that I had been carrying for a long time. The sessions renewed my desire to read Scripture and became a source of peace and emotional relief, especially during a season when I felt distant from God. Over time, Alpha helped me gradually restore my relationship with God, experience genuine community for the first time, and trust that God's plans for my life are greater than my own." Annet · Martyrs University, Nkozi, Uganda
S AV E T H E DAT E
Leadership Conference 2027 Celebrating 50 Years of Alpha
3–4 May 2027 Royal Albert Hall, London Launching: The New Alpha Series
The 2026 Leadership Conference brought 5,180 leaders from 72 nations to Royal Albert Hall in London to encounter Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and be equipped to advance the evangelisation of nations, the revitalisation of the Church, and the transformation of society.
Thank you. Every number in this report is really a name — a person who found belonging, a family made whole, a student who invited a friend, a community learning to trust God together. Your generosity is transforming lives across the globe, opening the door for people everywhere to explore faith and encounter Jesus. We are so grateful for your partnership, and we can't wait to see where God leads us next, together.
Tricia Neill President, Alpha International
Questions, or want to reach out? tricia.neill@alpha.org