Pastors on a sympathetic patrol

Friday 16th October 2009, 2:56PM BST.

Vini Jones, Street Pastors co-ordinator for Jersey Picture: JON GUEGAN (00811533)

Volunteer street pastors could soon in St Helier at night to offer a sympathetic ear to anyone in need.

A UK initiative, Street Pastors, received support from the St Helier roads committee this week.

Street pastors are members of a Christian community who volunteer to go out on to the streets ‘to care, listen and help’.

They aim to help young people, in particular, who may have found themselves marginalised from society. And they say that they are there to help, not to preach.

As an agency they want to do their bit towards reducing crime in the Island and to look at the issues of drinking and drugs. This was explained to the roads committee by members of the Freedom Church at a meeting on Wednesday.

Project co-ordinator Vini Jones said street pastors had to be over 18, have been committed to a Christian fellowship for more than a year, have obtained a positive reference from their church leader, and have completed a police check and a 12-day training course.

The pastors, who will wear specifically designed uniform, will work between 10 pm and 3 am on Saturday nights.

1
Bob Fleming

October 16, 2009 at 4:58 pm

Call me an old cynic, but aren’t these people just going to become targets for verbal and physical abuse from the drunken nutters that stagger round St Helier on a Saturday night?

I’ve heard of these organisations that are run in other countries that aim to control anti-social behaviour by taking away and locking up people who are intent on causing harm to other folk. Ah yes, that’s right – the police or something like that. I know, a bit radical eh? It’s like garlic bread – it’s the future.

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2
Dai Version

October 17, 2009 at 9:25 am

Bob Fleming # 1. Yes you are an old cynic; you never know these guys may succeed where the cops fail. We could flood the streets with Street Pastors so the States of Jersey Police could be disbanded to help with the financial deficit, following the H de La G debacle. The money saved will also assist with the financial black hole caused through our Chief Minister’s faux pax with his tax policies.

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3
Rozel Joe

October 18, 2009 at 8:43 am

You have to admire this scheme, many people shout and rant on about town and how “dangerous” it is. Well, congrats to the pastors for doing something about it.

Would be nice to see a follow up article on this to report how they get on.

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4
Leah Holmes

October 18, 2009 at 9:55 am

#1 Bob, they work quite well in the UK and are there for the people that the police won’t deal with.

Situations often arise because people are totally drunk and stupidly upset about something. They may seem very distressed and be rather loud but are not causing enough of a problem (compared to others) for the Police to prioritise them. Having a sober, sensible-headed individual around simply gives them someone who will let them sound off, who will listen to them and whose sober, controlled state can often calm them down. If this simply means hurling abuse at the person then I’m sure the pastors won’t take it personally!

It is of course something that could be done by non-religious people but this doesn’t seem to happen. If the Church are happy to do it (and no, they don’t preach) then I say ‘go for it, it’s a brilliant idea’.

Often when people are drunk they just need a neutral person to listen, that is not the job of the Police, well it’s not what I pay my taxes for anyway.

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5
Bob Fleming

October 19, 2009 at 1:34 pm

I wish them all the best, I honestly do. I just fear for their safety, that’s all.

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