We’ve been interviewing some of our volunteer Street Pastors to hear about what being a Street Pastor is really like. This week, we spoke to one of our Street Pastors who is a Team Leader.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I work part-time. My children are now all young adults.

How long have you been involved with Chester Street Pastors?

6 years.

What made you decide to become a Street Pastor?

The opportunity to serve and help practically but being “in the name of Jesus”.

What skills or abilities do you have that help you as a Street Pastor?

Just usual listening/team working – nothing specific. I have medical training but actually this is very different on the streets to at my work so isn’t really so relevant except perhaps in feeling more confident with mental health crises for example.

What’s your favourite thing about being a Street Pastor?

Working as a team, lots of conversations with people.

Tell us about one of your best experiences as a Street Pastor, for example a night where you feel like you really made an impact on someone’s life, or helped someone:

Praying for someone who felt touched by the help that Street Pastors had given, and who wanted prayer.

Tell us about an experience you have been involved with or seen, where without Chester Street Pastors, the outcome could have been very different:

Supporting vulnerable drunk female alone and at risk.

What would you say to someone who was thinking about becoming a Street Pastor?

It is good to be able to serve – there is training to be done but volunteering just once per month from late evening into the night is something that can be done quite easily without interfering with the rest of life’s activities and responsibilities.

Thank you!

If you’d like to find out more about getting involved with Chester Street Pastors, or if you’d like to try it out and join us for a shift as an observer, get in touch with us here!