New Xp. Film Series winning awards…and teenage attention

Your support is helping young people think about faith

When a member of James Baker’s youth group asked a question he never expected, he knew there was a problem.

They asked, ‘What’s Christmas?’ and I laughed,” James remembers. “And then I realised that’s actually a serious question.”

While there are many resources out there for youth groups and teens, none of them seemed to fit those with no knowledge or background in Christianity at all.

That’s what brought James to create the Xp. film series, which recently won the award for Compelling content in the Screen media category at the 2024 CMAA Excellence in Media Awards, no small distinction as it was in the same category as a scene from The Chosen.

While James says he is humbled by the win, he didn’t do it for recognition, but to help where he saw a gap that needed addressing.

“I woke up one morning and thought, what would it look like to take a few steps back?” recalls James.

These backwards steps gradually took a forward momentum. Over five years the Xp. film series was birthed … and your partnership helped it happen.

“Research is telling us that a lot of young people have no biblical or faith literacy. The idea of something bigger than themselves is probably not even on their radar,” explains SU Australia’s Tess Van Bennekom, who, along with Steve Forward, walked with James and his team on the Xp. creation journey.

“Xp. is intended to meet young people where they’re at and create opportunities for conversations. It’s designed to be experienced in a group…and to ask the questions of what if and what do you think, in a way that sparks curiosity in young people, and doing that in a uniquely Australian way,” explains Tess.

The journey to create the series began back in 2019 with a pilot to experiment with format and possibilities. SU was among the first to support the venture and to back it.

“There are deep partnerships with SU that have helped make Xp. what it is,” says James.

“It’s doing really important things nationally and I think your supporters should be aware of that. They are contributing to something that is helping young people begin faith journeys.”

Though Series 1 was only launched in February this year it’s making a huge impact. Free to access on YouTube, it has already had well over 10000 registered participants and is being used nationally and internationally in multiple contexts, from parents sharing it with their children to youth groups, SUA adventure camps, lego clubs and even Christian dance discipleship groups.

“This is a new way of engaging young people where they are at. They are in digital space, they are hanging out with their friends. They are not attending church,” says Tess.

“This is a way that speaks their language, that communicates the Gospel, that asks good questions, believing that the Holy Spirit is going to be at work in people’s lives and creates space for them to explore what that looks like.”

With another two series’ planned, the idea is to gradually go deeper into what a relationship with Jesus looks like.

One thing is certain, young people across our nation with no previous knowledge or interest in faith are now exploring it…and even enjoying the process.

To see for yourself what everyone is talking about visit their site here.