Welcome

Day 1 Programme

Welcome – John Wentz

‘Why Alpha is Relevant Now and Deepening Your Alpha Culture’ – Abel Cheah | 15 minutes

‘Significance of Being a Hub Church’ – Miles Toulmin | 15 minutes

‘What Kingdom Impact has Alpha had on Your Church Plant’ – Andrew Sercombe | 15 minutes

Breakout Rooms | 40 minutes

Prayer Ministry

Day 2 Programme

Welcome – John Wentz

Alpha’s Mission and Engaging Churches – John Wentz | 15 minutes

Committed to Best Practices – Nicky Gumbel & John Wentz | 20 minutes

Breakout Rooms | 20 minutes

Insight Into Being a Hub Church – Aaron Ophaug & Patty Ledezma | 20 minutes

Breakout Rooms | 20 minutes

Prayer Ministry

Miles Toulmin – HTBB

Miles Toulmin is the Executive Director of Alpha Asia Pacific and Vicar of Holy Trinity Bukit Bintang (HTBB), home of the Alpha Asia Pacific Hub in Kuala Lumpur. Miles is married to Sarah, and together they served under Nicky and Pippa Gumbel for 7 years at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, before moving to Malaysia to plant HTBB. Miles and Sarah have three children. Miles is passionate about Alpha because it keeps the church looking outward and relying on the Holy Spirit.

Twitter: @milestoulmin
Instagram: @mtoulmin

Abel Cheah – HTBB

Abel Cheah is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Alpha Asia Pacific. He is also a Curate at Holy Trinity Bukit Bintang (HTBB), pastoring HTBB’s evening service, with Jacintha, his wife. He was previously the National Coordinator of Alpha Malaysia and the Head of Regions of Teach For Malaysia, a leadership development non-profit. Abel enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, riding his motorcycle and evening walks with his 1-year-old son, Levi. Abel is passionate about Alpha and believes that Alpha is a culture, not just a product. It opens the doors of the church and the heart of the seeker.

Instagram: @abelcheah

Andrew Sercombe – Gateway Baptist

Andrew Sercombe is the City Campus Pastor for Gateway Baptist Church, part of a large multi-site church in Brisbane, Australia. Andrew spent ten years in London serving at various churches including Soul Survivor and St Paul’s Shadwell before moving back to Australia to plant a church in the urban heart of Brisbane. It was in London that he met and married his wife Megan and they have four children. For Andrew, Alpha is a gift for any church-planter as an evangelistic resource, training tool and culture-creator.

Instagram: @andrewsercombe

Aaron Ophaug – Friends Church

Aaron is married to his wife Krista and has two children Julia and Cole. He has a B.A. in Clinical Psychology and received his Masters of Divinity in Spiritual Formation from Talbot School of Theology. He helped conduct psychological research on the role of attachment theory to spiritual development at Rosemead School of Psychology before being called to a pastoral role as the College and Young Adult Pastor at Friends Church. He served in that capacity for 7 years and then became the Pastor of Evangelism at Friends where he learned about Alpha and launched their course in 2016. Most recently, he served on the pastoral staff as the Missions Pastor at Rockharbor Church in Costa Mesa, helping to oversee all local and global mission and the Alpha Course. It was through a missions experience in Africa that the Holy Spirit called him back to his home church at Friends where he is currently in the process of launching a church plant in Riverside County in 2022.

“I believe in Alpha because as an Evangelism Pastor I have done every form of sharing the Gospel – from preaching, to street ministry, to neighbourhood ministry. Nothing has been as effective as Alpha. I love the culture that Alpha creates for prayer and DNA of listening”.

Patty Ladezma – Saint Vincent De Paul Catholic Church

Patty Ledezma works as Director of Parish Life and Evangelization at Saint Vincent de Paul Church in Huntington Beach, CA and has been the staff contact for the Alpha Course since the Fall 2015. She has run the Alpha course in English and Spanish, in person and online via Zoom. Patty is a huge advocate of the Alpha course after seeing the amazing fruit it blossomed in her parish, even during the pandemic! She earned her Master of Arts in Pastoral Theology from Loyola Marymount University. Patty’s hope and desire is to encourage people to grow in their relationship with Christ through the liturgy, social programs, prayer and faith formation in English and Spanish. Establishing this connection is what fuels her own spirituality and journey and something she hopes to be an agent of for the rest of her life.