"What is a Street Pastor?"

"After getting ready through a number of training events, I go out once a month as a Street Pastor. I really enjoy serving as part of a team. Normally four of us meet at 9.30pm at the Christian Youth Centre (CYC) on Bank St. to pray and plan for the night's patrol. We come from a wide spectrum of churches but as we walk around the City centre, we all tend to look like the Michelin man with our Street Pastor jacket over the top of a number of layers of clothing. Mostly we greet people and chat to those who are willing for that but the words STREET PASTOR on the front and back of the jackets naturally lead to the question “What's a Street Pastor?” This leads on to a conversation that goes something like this:

What's a Street Pastor?

We are out to care for people.


Why?

Because we want people to be safe


Why do you do it?
Because Jesus cares for people


“……… ”

We aim to bring the care of Jesus to the night streets. The contents of the rucksack we carry between us tell something of how we show His care:

Flip flops to protect the girls' feet when they have taken off their high heels
after dancing all night.

Lollies to cheer a lonely heart

Leaflets from partner agencies to inform where further help can be sought

Gospels for the person who might want to think more about Jesus.

No two nights are the same but we are on the streets from 10pm to midnight when we go back to CYC with a bag of chips. We then go out again from around 1am to 3.30am. We usually get home for about 4.30am.

Although there are opportunities to speak about Jesus, the work is primarily one of practical pastoral care as we seek to demonstrate the love of Jesus to those who are having a night out in the pubs and clubs. Inverness city centre is a different world at 2am so I'm glad for the ongoing training. For instance, the week before participating in the Rock Ness event we received a day's training on drug and alcohol abuse.

I'd be grateful for your prayers for myself and other team members as we go out to pastor on the streets of Inverness. Protection, wisdom, open hearts and a transformed culture is what I pray for."

Guy Pembroke

If you would like to know more about the work of Street Pastors
you can visit their website here.