We spoke to Anne Wilkins, Priest – in – Charge of All Saints and St Mary’s Sawley to learn more about the recent success with their youth group.  

Anne wanted to provide young people in her church a place to develop their faith. Having never done youth work before, she found the Urban Saints Energize resources a useful tool, and over time has seen the young people growing in faith, even leading services together and praying for each other. 

How long have you been in your role? 

I was licensed to Sawley parish in October 2023.  

How did it begin/what was your motivation for starting this project? 

I came to the parish hoping to start the Growing Faith initiative and build links with children and families and the local schools. While a lot was being done with children’s work in the church and in schools as well as a community youth café, there was nothing for young people in the church to develop their faith.  
We started with doing Youth Alpha last year with 10 young people attending (the majority from within the church, one from another parish and one new young person who is now part of church). We met on a Sunday at 5pm, starting with a simple meal and then watching the video. There are breaks in the Alpha videos which enable discussion. After Alpha finished, I asked them if they wanted to continue, and they all said yes. We then did a questionnaire as to what they liked and what they wanted to do next. This helped us plan the next term.  

Describe how the group looks today 

We have 3 plus myself as a team. 
The group is now called Youth Saints (or churchies as they also call themselves). 

I had never led Youth work before and was directed to use Urban Saints Energize material. This is accessed by a monthly subscription of £21, which the PCC fully supported. I can highly recommend using this material – it is varied, Biblical, fun, multi- media and they really enjoy it. All members of the team are able to access it too. We still start with a meal which is provided by different members of the team. The group has bonded very well and work well together.  

How have you seen your ministry grow? 

Yes, I think so. They have become more involved in Sunday worship. They are growing in faith and have become more open with each other about life issues. They are very committed to the group.  

Last November 5 of them were confirmed at All Saints.  

What is your recent success (with youth or children)? 

Last autumn they led the whole morning service which was well received. This Easter Sunday they are doing a dance and a drama in the service.  

Do you have plans going forward? 

The next challenge is to try to build a bridge between our Youth Café, which is for young people in the community and Youth Saints. I am hoping that they become even more involved in church life and take on roles of responsibility (some of them already are). 

Can you describe one highlight? 
The youth led service. And seeing them slowly begin to pray for each other.  

What have you learnt? Would you do things differently next time? 

To be honest I’m not sure I would use Youth Alpha as it didn’t enable them to get to know each other and have fun. They started to gel and open up when we started using the Energize material.  

Any advice for other churches? 

Start with who you have. Have food. Use Energize. Get them involved in worship. Ask them what they want.  

How can we pray for this ministry? 

Pray that the group grows and that as the young people get older, we can continue to equip them for adult life, moving away.