Marcus Purnell, a Business Analyst with a Life and Pensions outsourcing Company and his wife Jane, parents of three young children, are in their early 30s.
Describing themselves as a 'close family' they both attended an Alpha celebration supper with Marcus's dad who had gone along to an Alpha when he was feeling low and "they had noticed a real change in him".
At the celebration supper they "felt a real connection with both the people and the whole subject of Christianity. Marcus adds "I was baptised and confirmed in 1999 but had not really had the support to grow my faith up until this point." Jane and Marcus attended the next course that came up.
Asked about whether he and Jane had a Christian background, Marcus says "Church was a familiar place for Jane but at that time I wouldn't really go along as I didn't want to be a hypocrite. I had lots of questions still and wasn't getting any answers!
Marcus went on to to describe Alpha as "enjoyable!'" and said "The course enabled us to get to know new people and I got to ask all the questions I had stored up.
When the course came to an end we felt a deep connection with the people in our group and had enough information to start to consider letting Jesus into our lives."
He goes on to add "I think we were far more self-centred before we became Christians (of course we're far from perfect now!) but I think we feel more content if that makes any sense? Life just now feels right!
His final comment to people considering attending Alpha is "Don't delay - do it. It's non-threatening and there's no "hard sell" You'll make new friends, get fed and enjoy yourself!"
Over 8 million people have now attended an Alpha course, 'an opportunity to explore the meaning of life', running in tens of thousands of churches of all denominations across the world. It's a great opportunity for those interested in exploring Christianity to find out more in a relaxed no-threatening environment.
For more details about Alpha courses in this area speak to your local church, visit the alpha website www.alpha.org or look out for details in the local press