Street Pastors (Paperback)

Pioneered in London in 2003 by Rev Les Isaac, Street Pastors is an inter-denominational church response to urban problems, engaging with people on the streets to care, listen and dialogue. There are now 9,000 trained volunteers in around 250 teams around the United Kingdom. This book brings together the stories of some of the many people whose lives have been touched by this exciting initiative over the last decade... people like James, who tells of the night he met street pastors in a Bedfordshire market town, and local government executives like Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, who supports the work of Street Pastors in south London. We meet Sam, street pastor in Newcastle and hear his story about the costs and privileges of serving his community, and the solicitor who resolves the legal and policy questions that arise when street pastors are in challenging situations on the streets. From the launch of the initiative in Gibraltar to the after-school patrol of a school pastor in Plymouth, this book provides a panoramic view of the work of Street Pastors. Big visions thrive on small details; this book captures some of the individual stories that make the big vision for Street Pastors real in towns and cities in the UK and beyond.

 Les Isaac is the founder of the Street Pastors initiative. Born in Antigua, Les was a Rastafarian involved in London's gang scene before he became a Christian. He went on to work as a church leader for over twenty years, always seeking to engage with the same hard-to-reach communities that he came from. He is the author of Street Pastors, Relevant Church and Dreadlocks, and the director of Ascension Trust, which administrates and leads the Street Pastors movement. Rosalind Davies is a writer and editor who has worked with Les Isaac and Ascension Trust on a variety of publications, and is the co-author with Isaac of Street Pastors. Working in a freelance capacity since 2007, she helps other people prepare their books for publication as a copy-editor, developmental editor and writing partner.