Christians in Taunton have spent two years exploring the potential for serving the community by means of town centre chaplaincy and some form of support for those who frequent the night-time entertainment and late night refreshment venues.
Having heard from projects in other parts of the country, most notably Watford and Weston-Super-Mare, representatives of Taunton Christians Together (uniting approximately 30 Churches of various denominations) and some of the Independent Churches in the Town approached the national ‘Street Pastors’ organisation to seek help in setting up a scheme in Taunton.
Adrian Prior-Sankey (former Mayor and currently Chairman of Taunton Christians Together) and the Rev Vincent Carrington (Minister of North Street Congregational Church and co-leader of the B1 group of Churches) have worked together to coordinate a group of volunteers who are helping to steer the project through to the launch.
Adrian Prior-Sankey has spoken of the motivation for the initiative:
“Our community was horrified to learn of the tragic death in 2005 of teenager Lloyd Fouracre and the rape that occurred in Taunton’s town centre shortly afterwards. As Christians we want to put our belief in God’s love for all ages into practice and were encouraged by reports of Street Pastors’ successes in reducing crime in many other towns and cities.
“So often the church is guilty of commentating but not getting up out of the pews to be part of the solution to society’s problems. We hope to make a difference for the benefit of all who use our town centre late at night.“ |