How do I build a team?
The size of your group or context determines the potential roles to fill on your Alpha team. If you’re running a small Alpha with a few friends, you’ll still need a prayer team, a host and helper and someone in charge of food. But for Alphas with multiple small groups, there are a variety of other roles to consider. Below we’ve outlined the key roles as well as any potential roles you may need to fill.
Prayer Team
As you’re preparing to run Alpha, find someone who is able to coordinate a group of people to pray behind the scenes. You could connect with an existing prayer coordinator at your church or someone you know who has a passion for prayer and intercession. If everyone is in agreement it can be helpful to have a Whatsapp prayer group so that prayer requests can be easily and quickly sent to the team throughout the course. Prayer support during the Weekend Away is invaluable.
Food Team
Eating a meal together is a highlight of Alpha for many people because it creates a space for conversation and friendships to flourish. If your group is planning to provide their own food, find someone to take the lead, who loves to cook for crowds and is a boss in the kitchen. This person will need to have administration skills because you’ll be counting on them to meal plan, pick up groceries and organize the food helpers. It also helps if that person has a flair for table set up to make guests feel as welcome as possible.
Host & Helper
We’ve created a lot of training material explaining the host and helper roles at Alpha because they play such crucial parts in the guest experience. The main idea is that the host serves as the facilitator for the small group discussion time and the helpers serve in a supporting role. A helper makes sure that guests feel welcome and assists in building relationships in the group.
The host is best described as a listening leader because their job isn’t to teach but to create a welcoming and safe place for open discussion. A good Alpha Leader does very little talking but spends more listening and facilitating discussion. There are really specific qualities to look for in a small group host so make sure to read the article, “3 Qualities to Look for in a Host,” and go through the learning module on open discussion. Include all your volunteers as you watch and discuss the three team training videos.
Alpha Administrator
If you’re planning an Alpha with potentially a lot of guests, an Alpha administrator is an important role to consider. They can help with scheduling, registration, sending out the necessary information week to week, managing your budget and all the other finicky details. An ideal Alpha administrator loves to mastermind events and is really good at keeping track of people and things.
Tech Support
If you’re presenting the Alpha talks in a large room—whether live or on video—you definitely need to recruit a tech-savvy person. Think of a person who can make sure you have the right audio and visual gear so that everything goes smoothly. If running Alpha online a Tech Person is vital so that the host can focus on ensuring guests feel welcome.
Set Up & Tear Down Team
Alpha can be run pretty much anywhere so depending on your space, you might need to adapt it to create a welcoming, familiar environment for guests. If that’s your situation, think of people who can dream up creative ways to turn a church sanctuary into a restaurant or a school classroom into a coffee shop vibe. If your space requires a lot of preparation, consider having a grunt work team for set up and tear down.
Greeters and Registration
Even if your Alpha is one small group, you want guests to feel welcome. But if your Alpha has large numbers, you need to be extra careful that guests don’t get lost in the crowd. Make sure you have greeters at the door and people at registration to assign guests to specific groups. They should be people with a friendly smile and who love connecting with new people.
Alpha Emcee
An Alpha with more than 1-2 small groups might need an emcee (MC). The emcee is a key role because they set the tone for the evening. They are enthusiastic and welcoming, but not overly chatty. They simply guide the evening along and explain what to expect, where things are, what time the discussion ends, etc. They act as host to the event so they need to be confident speaking in front of groups and good at making people feel at ease, especially those who might not typically go to church.
Every Alpha is going to be unique in terms of the number of people required to pull it off. Make sure you ask the right people and not just the available people. Once you’ve got a prayer team in the works, someone in charge of food, and you’ve carefully considered who would make for awesome hosts and helpers, think about what other roles you may need to fill. Alpha is an awesome opportunity for people to develop their skills and gifts and to serve others while also having the joy of seeing lives transformed by the gospel!
Written by Emily Morrissey.
Emily is Alpha Ireland’s Church & Digital Administrator. You can discuss all of these ideas for building a team with her by booking a free one-on-one coaching call.