Who Are They?
Street Pastors were pioneered in London in 2003 by Rev. Les Isaac. On that first night, 18 volunteers took to the streets of Brixton – 15 women and 3 men. Since then 12,000 street and prayer pastors have been trained and currently, more than 300 towns and cities around the UK have a Street Pastors team. When you add prayer pastors, management teams and trustees, this means that there are over 20,000 volunteers in total associated with the Street Pastors network. There are also a growing number of Street Pastors elsewhere in the world
School Pastors
- Street Pastors now work with schools and colleges as an initiative called School Pastors
- School Pastors provide support in and around schools so that students can have support without judgment
Response Pastors
- In 2014 Street Pastors started a new initiative called Response Pastors to provide physical and emotional support, nationally, in times of crisis.
- Response pastors have worked with the emergency services at Grenfell Tower and the Manchester Arena bombing
Rail Pastors
- In recent years, Street Pastors launched Rail Pastors, who have started patrolling on the rail network in areas with high suicide rates to provide emotional support to those in need
Each project is licensed by Ascension Trust, which is the governing body behind Street Pastors, and run by a local coordinator with support from local churches and community groups, in partnership with the police, local council and other statutory agencies.
“Street Pastors is about Christians rolling up their sleeves and getting involved in practically responding to the problems of crime and safety. They are like beacons on our streets and I want to see them shining brightly in every constituency.
“David Burrowes, Patron of Ascension Trust
A street pastor is someone who is…
- a Christian and is part of a local church;
- concerned for society and their local community;
- willing to engage with people, whatever their perspective on life and wherever they hang out;
- happy to work in a team and in collaboration with other agencies and projects, both statutory and voluntary.
Wellingborough Street Pastors
Wellingborough Street Pastors were established in 2013. We work alongside the Police, Wellingborough Pubwatch and Wellingborough Council (The Urban Trinity) to Help, Care & Listen to those in need and to serve the Night Time Economy
We currently have 15 Commissioned Street Pastors with three trainees about to be commissioned and seven more in training. One of our Street Pastors is a trained Response Pastor.
We go out at least three weekends per month between 2200 hrs. and 0300 hrs. but our aim is to cover all weekends
A Typical Night
- Meet at 10 pm in All Hallows Church Hall (Base)
- Tea, coffee & biscuits
- Prayer
- First Patrol 11pm – chat with door staff, those on their way home, rough sleepers and anyone else we meet
- Tea, coffee & biscuits
- Second patrol 1.15 am
- There is no such thing as a typical night – we have responded to the expected and the unexpected, such as a young lady stuck half way up a tree, unconscious, and a “pretend” Road Traffic Accident, where a gentleman claimed to have been run over by a police car.
What do we do whilst we are out?
- We work as part of the Urban Trinity – the Police, the Council and The Church
- Patrol within town centre
- Carry a Police radio so that we are in contact with local CCTV and door staff, and so that we can respond to situations
- Work with door staff to resolve situations
- Look after rough sleepers with hot drinks, food and company
- Look after people on their night out who may be a bit worse for wear.
What do we need?
Trainee Street Pastors
- Christians who are part of a local church, and who are concerned for society and their local community; the volunteers need to be willing to engage with people, whatever their perspective on life and wherever they hang out, and to be happy to work in a team and in collaboration with other agencies and projects, both statutory and voluntary. A mix of men & women, 18 years and older.
- Gleneagles is presently the local church that provides us with the largest number of volunteers, and as such the vicar is a member of our board of trustees.
Prayer Pastors
- As above, but with a desire to make a difference through prayer.
- They work from base, to support the street pastor teams with prayer and stay in contact with the street pastor team on patrol via Police radio.
- They respond to specific needs and situations that arise in prayer, and pray for protection and divine appointments.
- They pray at the start and at the finish the evening, after debriefing.
Financial Support
- We are a charity, and we finance our own training, uniforms etc. Gleneagles honoured us by making us one of the Church Mission Partners, and donating £35.00 a month to us
Prayer Support
- Everything we do is underpinned by prayer.
- We are only human, so need God’s help to do His Work
Training is provided
Modules include:
- Community
- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Communication
- Roles & Responsibilities
- Mental Health
Opportunities
From 2021 onwards, we have been given opportunities to work at the following events:
- Santa Pod Race Evenings
- Wellingborough Carnival
- The Walk of Witness
- Remembrance Day Parade
- The Knife Angel Tour
