A powerful new cross-church initiative is capturing the hearts of young people across Salisbury.
Three churches from different denominations – St Francis and Hope Church, St Paul’s Church and Salisbury Baptist Church – have united to run Youth Alpha Salisbury, where young people aged 10-18 have been gathering every Sunday for the past four weeks to explore life’s big questions, develop leadership skills and build lasting community.
Held at Salisbury Baptist Church, each gathering has welcomed 100 young people – with many more on the reserve list – to an evening where they can explore questions of life, faith and meaning in a fun, welcoming environment, supported by a committed team of adult volunteers. The evenings feature a shared meal, games, time to connect, open discussions and time for reflection, as well as interaction with two partner youth charities, The Bridge Project and Rise:61. The project prioritises empowering young people to lead, with emphasis on the evenings being run by young people for young people, and a number of the participants serving as co-hosts, worship leaders and facilitators each week.
Made possible through partnership, the collaborative initiative emerged from a regular meeting of church youth workers from across the city. Sophie Stokes, youth worker at St Francis and Hope Church and a member of the church youth workers group, said:
“There has been so much excitement from the young people who have been to these sessions, they are loving it! We only planned to welcome 90 young people every week, but on the first night we had 100 come and we felt that we couldn’t turn them away - this just shows how much our young people are looking for something meaningful to be involved with. They’re not just coming for food and fun, they’re coming for genuine connection with people who want to listen and discuss answers to questions - not just about faith, but about relationships and identity – that really matter to them and reflect their real-life struggles in what is a challenging world. For us, this isn’t short-term – it’s a movement of young people stepping into leadership, faith and community together.”
The current initiative runs until mid-December 2025, and the organisers are already exploring ways to continue its momentum into 2026. The team runs a weekly Zoom prayer call that is open to all – more information is available on the St Francis and Hope Church website, st-francischurch.org.uk.
