Starting at the Beginning: Christian Basics for Faith and Life with Resources for Leaders

A.J. Pell is editor of the Canadian Evangelical Review and an instructor
of Liturgy, Anglican Studies Program, Regent College, Vancouver.

In the past 50 years Canadian society, like Western society in general,
has gone from one in which the basics of the Christian faith were known
by almost everyone to being a society where most people have little or
no real knowledge of Christianity. In response, many courses of
introduction to the Christian faith have been developed over the past 15
years, such as the “Alpha Course” and “Christianity Explored,”
both from England. The “Alpha Course,” the most popular, makes use
of books and video talks, and can be an expensive proposition for
smaller churches.

Starting at the Beginning is a low-key, low-cost 10-part introduction
to the basics of Christianity. Its 10 sessions are divided into two
courses: “Christian Basics” (four sessions) and “Growing and
Living as a Christian” (six sessions). With this book and a $10
“Leader’s Resource Pack” of reproducible handouts and
transparencies, a course can be mounted for a handful of people or a
larger group. Basic instructions and an outline for conducting each of
the 10 sessions in under two hours are provided in the book’s
appendix.

As such courses go, this one is toward the “soft sell” end of the
scale. Some prospective users will be disappointed that Session 3,
“Where Do I Fit In,” asks no more of participants than “On a scale
of 1 to 100, where am I on the ‘response grid’?” and “What, if
any, decisions have I made today about taking a step forward?” Others
may feel even these questions are too intrusive. Yet the course does
provide the flexibility within its framework to make it worth
considering for use.