Hello church 

Back in October, we had the youth bake off, which went really well! We had a group of four young people come along to this, and they all went for very chocolatey recipes (as you’ll see from the images – I can confirm they were all delicious too, so star bakers all round!). It was a lot of fun and the young people seemed to really enjoy it. It’s also great to see them building relationships with one another too, which is one of the great things that come from having social events in the youth programme.

LIFE continues to run every other week, and it’s going well! We have a small number attending, however that allows us to have really good, open and honest discussions with the youth.

As I’m writing this, the youth will be getting ready for the festivities! It is the SBC youth tradition to put up the church Christmas tree and decorate it so they’re able to use their creative sides! So big thanks to the young people who helped with this!

God has really been opening up doors for us in local secondary schools. I recently had an opportunity to go into Tenison’s and speak with the sixth formers, doing a ‘Grill a Christian’ which is a Q&A, where they can ask any questions about the Christian faith. This was during their lunchtime, and they asked some really great questions; some of the main themes were around sin, repentance and free will. There was a group of students who wanted to continue the conversation once the session had finished too, so it was really great to have the opportunity to answer questions, share views and spend time getting to know young people more in the community.

The parent Drop ins were a real success, with some really valuable conversations. It was a space for us to share in fellowship with parents who have young people at SBC. There were lots of creative ideas shared!

As we look ahead to next year too, we will be starting something new for the young people called ‘Youth Serve Sunday’. This will usually take place on a communion Sunday, where Rooted won’t be on, so it’s an opportunity for the young people to stay in the service, and we will ask them to serve in a particular way that week, e.g. getting involved with tech/cameras, serving tea and coffee, doing readings and prayers. Our prayer for this is that this will really help them grow in confidence as they have more responsibility.

Thank you so much to you all for all of your continued support – whether that be through volunteering, through prayers… or anything else! We are so grateful and couldn’t do what we do without you!

Merry Christmas to you all, and a Happy New Year! Praying that the year ahead will be a real blessing. Katie Canning