The popular Alpha course is set to broadcast worldwide following its appointment of architect Lord Foster who will convert a disused Victorian church into a television studio.

|TOP|The 19th-century St Paul’s Church on Onslow Square, Knightsbridge, will be refitted with a broadcast-quality auditorium as part of the plans for the new “come and see” studio being devised by Foster, reports The Times.

The Alpha course sermons will be broadcast from the new building to course followers in more than 150 countries via their computers and will play a major role in boosting missions in India, Africa and China.

“Digital technology is to our era what Gutenberg was to the 15th century when he created the press to print the Bible,” said Ken Costa, the chairman of Alpha and also chairman of the European investment division of the Swiss bank UBS.

“This is a new technological revolution in the way Christianity will be spread. It is Christ for the iPod generation.”

Lord Foster is better known for the gherkin-shaped glass tower in the City of London that made a clean break from traditional office architecture. He is, however, planning to keep within the traditions of the 19th century church, which will be revamped into the digital studio at a cost of £15m.|AD|

“The challenge is to restructure a 19th-century church to fit contemporary needs,” he said. “The building will combine a sense of history with a reinvigorated 21st-century environment for worship and learning.”

The auditorium will seat congregations of more than 1,000 who will be able to watch sermons broadcast from around the world on giant screens when the finished building is opened at the scheduled date of 2008.

Teaching facilities will also be housed in a new building to be connected to the church with a glazed atrium.
The Alpha course has proved a phenomenal success with pop star Geri Halliwell, actor John Suchet, and disgraced former minister Jonathan Aitken among the 9m people worldwide who have taken the course developed by Holy Trinity Brompton.

Alpha’s TV schedule is expected to feature notable speakers such as the Archbishop of Canterbury and include a wide variety of programmes relevant to everyday living including how to deal with divorce, parenting and debt, as well as programmes of a more theological nature.