Hello church... 

God has been on the move these since the beginning of a new academic year, and I look forward to sharing all that’s been going on with all things SBC Youth!

To kick things off, we are halfway through our Youth Alpha series now, and it has been going really well! We’ve had around seven young people each week, some of whom have been inviting their friends, and we’ve had some amazing conversations, some great questions being asked, and overall, each session has been brilliant! The videos are so well put together, they are really interactive, and it proves helpful for the young people to be able to apply each theme to their own lives and faith journeys. Once Youth Alpha has finished (which will be near the end of November), the group will continue every Thursday evening but focusing on a different course/theme. 

Since the beginning of September, we haven’t had many Rooted sessions as the young people have been getting involved with the church service in different ways. We are continuing to run the same series as the rest of the church, with our hope and prayer being families will then be able to return home and talk about all that they will have learnt! We have now also split Rooted into two groups, depending on age, 11–14s (school years 7–9), and 15–18s (Y10+). The first week we did this went really well, as there were four young people in each group, and it means we can really tailor the teaching to that specific age group. A few young people have headed off to University in September 2026, so having this time being able to minister to them at the stage of life they are at is a great opportunity. It also meant that we’ve been able to have some quality time with the younger youth, and the new cohort of year 7s who seem to have settled in really well and have been very much welcomed by the rest of the group!  

Tenison’s assemblies have continued to go really well. I go in every other Tuesday morning. Having been able to get to know the same cohort for three years now, it feels as though we’ve built a good relationship there – often when I arrive, I get the chance to speak to groups of students whilst waiting to be let in, so this is also a great opportunity to get to know them more personally too.

As I write this article, we are approaching October half term, and we have some fun social plans in the diary, including an SBC Youth Bake Off! (Back by popular demand!)

In November, Kathryn and I are off to the National Youth Ministry Conference in Birmingham, which I’m really looking forward to attending, and I look forward to reporting back with all that went on in the next INSight edition! Thank you all so much for your continued support for all things youth here at SBC, whether you volunteer or you pray… we so value all your support and it never goes unnoticed!

God bless you all. Katie