Issue 04 - The Pilgrim - April 2012 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

Behind the scenes The Pilgrim April 2012
Taking it to the streets: The life
Eva Morgan tells Greg Watts what
it’s like being a street pastor
late at night on the streets of
Tunbridge Wells.
Q.Why and when did you decide
to get involved with Street
Pastors
A. Two and-a-half years ago the
Christian churches of all denominations
in Tunbridge Wells invited
volunteers to train as street
pastors.
It seemed a really practical and
visible way to show that the
Church cared for the town and its
people, and quite honestly it was
rather exciting too.
Q.When and where do you go out
with the team
A. I go out with our team on a Friday
night from 10pm to 4am, once
every four weeks. We ‘patrol’
around the centre of Tunbridge
Wells where all the clubs, bars and
restaurants are.
This night time economy area is
mainly spread along a road that
stretches up a long hill, so there’s
quite a lot of walking to do!
There is a team of four to seven
street pastors out every Friday
night and two Saturday nights a
month as well.
Q.What exactly do you do
A: We’re there to listen, to care,
and to help on busy nights when
young people who are out to have
a good time may end up getting
drunk and in difficulties.
We are there to help in a simple
practical way, by offering water to
those who’ve had too much to
drink, handing out flip-flops to
girls who have abandoned their
high heels and are walking barefoot
on cold pavements, administering
simple first aid, or clearing
up glass bottles from the street.
We try to ensure people can get
home safely, defuse potential
aggression if we can, and offer
comfort where appropriate.
But we’re also there simply to
show that we care. This very
often just takes the form of
listening. Those we talk to will
open up and tell us about
problems in their lives and in
their situations. We listen with
compassion and concern, and if
we can we direct them to agencies
that may be able to help,
for example drug rehabilitation
or housing agencies.
Q.Are you ever asked to pray
for someone
A. Yes. Importantly, we also ask
our prayer pastors back at Christ
Church in the high street, our
base, to pray for them. We
always hope that our encounters
with the people we meet may
touch their lives in a positive
way. And we have fun too. We
meet a lot of great young
people out there.
Q.How do people generally
react to you
A. At first with surprise as to
why we would want to stay up
at those hours helping people
without getting paid. Then
mostly with appreciation and
gratitude.
They’re sometimes concerned
that we may want to preach to
them, but that’s absolutely not
our role. We just want to express
God’s love in a very practical
non-judgemental way.
Now as more people have got to
know us we’re often greeted with
warm shouts of recognition and
even hugs.
Q.I would imagine many people
you encounter have been drinking.
How difficult does this make
having a conversation
A. Actually it can often make it
easier! They can be happy to talk
and tell you about their night out,
their day, their job and sometimes
their problems. If they’re really
drunk, we mainly just try to
ensure there’s a way for them to
get home safely.
Q.What examples do you have
of how you might have helped
someone
A. One boy was sitting on his own
at a bus stop being very sick. He
was quite young, had obviously
drunk a lot of alcohol in a short
space of time and was just this
side of conscious. We managed to
use his mobile to call his mother
to come and pick him up, and
stayed with him until she arrived.
On another night, another rather
less inebriated young man told us
he’d missed his last train home
and couldn’t afford a taxi as it was
a long way. He was going to try
and call some friends for a lift.
We found him at about 2am
huddled and dozing in a telephone
box by the train station. We
wrapped him in a space blanket
and brought him a hot drink and
Making friends in
Tunbridge Wells
asked CCTV to keep an eye on him
to ensure he stayed safe until his
first train in the morning.
Q.So what do your friends think
of you being a street pastor
A. Mostly their first reaction is
whether I worry about it being
dangerous.
Then my friends are very interested
to hear about the sorts of
situations we encounter, and how
we manage the next day after
getting to bed at 5am!
A busy night
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