What is a Street Pastor?

Street Pastor is a Church leader/minister or member with a concern for society - in particular young people who feel themselves to be excluded and marginalised - and who is willing to engage people where they are, in terms of their thinking (i.e. their perspective of life) and location (i.e. where they hang out - be it on the streets, in the pubs and clubs or at parties etc).

Street Pastors will also be willing to work with fellow activists, church and community leaders, and with agencies and projects, both statutory and voluntary, to look at collaborative ways of working on issues affecting youth, and initiatives that will build trust between them and the Street Pastors.

Street Pastors in action in Manchester

Some pictures from the launch of the original scheme in Manchester:

Updates

Saturday 17th December 2005: Street Pastors now in Longsight Manchester Street Pastors Coordinator Tony Winter has recruited a new Street Pastor team for the Longsight area of Manchester. This team is being set up in partnership with local churches and in response to a request from the local Police.

Friday 1st September 2006: Street Pastors for Gorton Manchester's third Street Pastor team had an initial training weekend in July and began working on the streets later in September 2005. As with the team in Longsight the initial request for a team in this area came from the local Police, and local churches have responded.

Monday 6th August 2007: Christianity Magazine Article There's a very good article on the Street Pastors initiative in Christianity Magazine, focussing on the scheme in Hackney. Click Here to see the full article...