On Friday, Aberdeen became the first city in Scotland to launch the highly successful Street Pastors initiative.

Street Pastors Aberdeen was launched at a Commissioning Service for volunteers at Gilcomston South Parish Church on Friday.

Aberdeen is the first city in Scotland where Street Pastors is taking to the streets and it is expected that others will follow.

The exciting new initiative is an inter-denominational church response to urban problems, engaging people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue., and has the widespread support of Aberdeen's churches.

The project has been set up with full consultation with Grampian Police and the City of Aberdeen Council, both of whom are very supportive of the initiative and understand its potential benefits in helping to bring a safer city centre.

Major Martin Hill, Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army in North Scotland said:
"We want this initiative to be owned by all Christians; we have a passion for Aberdeen and want to do something practical to help improve the city.

"There are lots of men and women who find themselves in vulnerable situations, who would appreciate the reassuring presence of a Street Pastor.

"In every instance the introduction of Street Pastors has brought a decrease in reported crime, we hope this will be the same for Aberdeen."

A dedicated group of 26 volunteer Street Pastors from ten different churches in and around Aberdeen have committed themselves to be in Aberdeen city centre between 10.00pm on Friday evenings until 4.00am Saturday mornings. They want to make a positive difference in the city.

Volunteer Street Pastors have been in training for a number of weeks in advance of the first evening's work which will commence on Friday 12 October. Professional training has covered listening skills, the roles and responsibilities of a Street Pastor, first aid and practical advice from Grampian Police.

Evangelist James Duce, City Church, explains the practical role of a Street Pastor:
'We will meet, talk and engage with the people through listening, supporting and helping in practical ways. This could be walking a girl on her own to a late night taxi, reassuring someone who feels intimidated, or listening to the people who need to know that somebody cares.'

There are four teams of up to seven members who will go out on a four-week rota. Ages range from 18 to 75. Experience elsewhere has proved that everyone - from teens to grannies - can be an effective pastor.

City of Aberdeen Lord Provost Peter Stephen said: "I greatly welcome this initiative which has had such positive results elsewhere in the UK. The Lord Provost's Charitable Trust has helped support the extension of the project to Aberdeen and I am confident it will make a significant contribution to improving our city centre environment at weekends."

The Street Pastors initiative has been supported by donations from churches and the Lord Provost's Trust Fund, who kindly donated £2,000 to the project.



[Re-printed in Christian Today with the kind permission of The Salvation Army]