WHATS IT ALL ABOUT?
We are in the town centre area of Woodbridge every Friday night from 8.30pm to approx 12.30am. Its all about being a positive presence on the streets—both physically and spiritually in prayer, serving our community, reducing the fear of crime, being around to help vulnerable people and listening and talking to people. This scheme is NOT outwardly evangelical, its not about telling people about God, but if people want to talk about faith and initiate the conversation then we love to talk about it! These schemes are all about building relationships in our community.
On each Friday night there are 4 Town Pastors (2 teams of 2, one male and one female in each team) with a designated team leader. The scheme is founded on prayer and the town pastors wouldn’t go out if there was not a prayer team praying. The prayer team pray for the town pastors while they are on patrol, they pray from the base situated in the town center, praying into situations as they arise and manning the radio systems. They also make the pastors tea and toast when they come in for their break! Another vital strand of the prayer team are those people praying from their own homes and people sign up to do hourly slots during the evening.
The Woodbridge Town Pastors have a management team which look after the overall running of the scheme. The team is made up of representatives from different churches, a police officer and a member of Suffolk Coastals Community Safety Partnership. The Community Safety Partnership initially funded the Woodbridge Town Pastors and without their continued support we would not have been in a position to take to the street in April 2009. The Woodbridge Town Pastors have also recieved kind support from the Woodbridge Town Council and Suffolk Foundation, along with various other organisations whose ongoing support is greatly appreciated.
