Pioneering pastors are streets ahead

Mar 10 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

PERTH’S pioneering street pastors scheme, which offers a listening ear in the city centre area at the weekends, is a year old.

During that time its numbers have increased from 16 to 25 and they are currently training a third group to enable them to expand their service to Thursday nights.

The scheme was hailed a “phenomenal success” yesterday by Mike Archibald, chairman of Street Pastors Perth.

“Although no statistics are available yet, the perception is that street crime is well down. Anecdotal evidence from the A&E Department at Perth Royal Infirmary also suggests that they are treating far fewer casualties,” he explained.

The idea for the street pastors originated in Jamaica when churches joined forces to take their values onto the streets and tackle the growing tide of gang culture, guns, drugs and violence.

It was transferred to London in 2003 where the Rev. Les Isaacs is the driving force.

Since then it has spread to other cities both north and south of the border.

Mr Archibald, who recently completed his training as a minister and is a Church of Scotland reader, stressed yesterday that the street pastors were not “God squads” patrolling local pubs and clubs, aiming to convert vulnerable people to Christianity.

“Our role is to listen to people and support them. We don’t evangelise them.

“We have received a much better reception in the streets than I thought we would,” he admitted. “We have helped defuse many potential violent situations through our intensive training.

“I was prepared for a lot of abuse – but that never happened. We have been well received.

“There has not been a single incident of physical aggression shown towards us in the whole of the past 12 months.”

Such has been the success of the Perth scheme, which has the backing of seven Christian churches in and around the city, that they train potential recruits for other Scottish cities.

As well as Perth, there are similar projects operating in Aberdeen, Inverness, Dunfermline, Stirling and Glasgow.

Street pastors currently number 148 and there are plans to establish schemes in a further 16 cities and towns the length and breadth of Scotland.

“By the end of this year, we expect numbers to total 400,” added Mike.

“Street Pastors Scotland is also getting its own base north of the border and it’s most likely to be here in Perth.”

Anyone interested in learning more about the scheme or becoming a volunteer can e-mail: michael.archibald@googlemail.com