Portsmouth Street Pastors

Portsmouth Street Pastors Portsmouth Street Pastors are volunteers who are prepared for and able to give support in the late night community. We listen, we care, we help.

We are so saddened by the news of the incident at Big Church Festival - a gathering of over 30,000 joining to worship an...
30/08/2026

We are so saddened by the news of the incident at Big Church Festival - a gathering of over 30,000 joining to worship and celebrate Jesus as one big church.

Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

Indeed we pray for God’s comfort to be so present to those lives who were directly affected, for the family of the husband, father and pastor who lost his life, for the event organisers and everyone who attended the festival.

We are confident in God’s goodness and his ability to turn all things for good.

Please pray with us as we remember and bring to Jesus all those affected by these events.

We all worship something or someone. Every heart has at its core a desire to reach out and connect.We are all looking fo...
24/08/2026

We all worship something or someone.

Every heart has at its core a desire to reach out and connect.

We are all looking for something or someone in our lives that we can rely on and won’t let us down.

There are many differences between people.

But we all have this in common.

This is why, every now and then, with a recognition of who and what we represent, people out and about at night begin to open up to us.

Recently we had a group of 4 men approach us and before long they started talking about going to church.

While our main aim is to be “the hands and feet of Jesus” providing a calm presence and help wherever it’s needed, it is a joy to hear from people where they are in their journey of finding God through Jesus.

And in these less certain times, this seems to be happening more.

What or who are you putting your faith in at this time?

Our teams prepare to serve on Friday and Saturday nights expecting and trusting that the Lord will guide them to the ver...
18/08/2026

Our teams prepare to serve on Friday and Saturday nights expecting and trusting that the Lord will guide them to the very person who needs help.

Our prayers are often answered.

As you read through this feedback received in our email this week, have a think; is this move of God something you’d like to be a part of making happen too?

If so, contact us for more info: [email protected]

“I just wanted to send a huge thank you from all of us on the security team working on Albert Road this evening.

Your patrol team came across from Palmerston Road to assist us with a vulnerable intoxicated female who was completely on her own. You took the time to help us look after her, make sure she was safe, and try to get her in contact with family or friends who could come and collect her.

The support you provided was genuinely appreciated. It’s reassuring to know that teams like yours are out there during the night, helping people when they are at their most vulnerable and working alongside security, emergency services and the wider night-time economy.

A massive thank you to everyone involved for everything you do. Your time, compassion and willingness to help really does make a difference.

Please pass on our thanks to the whole team.”

On the first weekend of this month we noticed there was a lot less people out and about than we had expected. This was o...
10/08/2026

On the first weekend of this month we noticed there was a lot less people out and about than we had expected.

This was odd given it was payday.

Normally the first weekend after the bank accounts are replenished result in a very active nightlife with lots of people ready to let the hair down.

Did you know that the Bible says that God bought you with a high price?

A payment was made that is higher and more valuable than any other transaction or purchase in the history of mankind.

This payment came in the form of God’s own Son, Jesus, who was hung on a cross and died for our sin so that we could be set free, having returned to the ownership of God.

He paid for our lives with the only currency that could be accepted - himself.

With that payment, our response is to honour the new owner with our very lives.

The purchase has been made. The transaction was completed. The invitation to walk out the door of your old life has been given.

We have been given a choice to stay indoors or go ‘out out’ and experience the life God has designed for us.

What do you choose?

After a break the team checked out Commercial Road engaging with those we met and then went back through Guildhall Squar...
31/07/2026

After a break the team checked out Commercial Road engaging with those we met and then went back through Guildhall Square where we caught up with Sugar Shack door staff.

Just then, a group of girls turned up from Oxford celebrating one of their 18th birthdays. Right in front of us they were approached by some local lads and before long at all, we needed to provide a presence as the groups squared up to each other for a short while. Thank God it all then de-escalated and the groups moved on.

Our city is currently promoting its bid to be City of Culture in 2029. There is so much to celebrate about this city and being on the national stage is a great to do it.

The kind of confrontation we witnessed is not the best advert to give to visitors. In fact, it is so far from how God wants to welcome strangers.

Jesus would often come across strangers and outsiders as he walked on this earth. Sometimes he did experience hostility. He would always know how to handle it. But other times, he needed to step up and step in to show those people the best possible welcome - showing them God recognises and accepts them.

For those who put their trust in Jesus, we will experience the most amazing welcome in heaven. Then we will know what a good welcome looks like to those who were once strangers and have become sons and daughters!

So how will you welcome visitors to this city?

And are you ready to experience the best welcome ever?

Portsmouths motto is ‘heaven’s light, our guide’. Let’s let Jesus show us how to put on the best kind of welcome this city can give.

As we head out again tonight and tomorrow, we will continue to help replace confrontation with comfort.

Because blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.

One of regular Street Pastors will be having an operation next week.There is never a good time to have to do this, but t...
25/07/2026

One of regular Street Pastors will be having an operation next week.

There is never a good time to have to do this, but the date also happens to fall on his birthday.

There will be a time of rest and recovery for the next 6 months.

God has a good track record of turning difficult things for good for those who love him and work according to his purposes.

Jesus was once having a conversation with an older man who was a teacher. The older man was confused by what he had heard. It was something that can confuse us too today.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
‭‭(John‬ ‭3‬:‭3-4 NLT).

God is a life-giver. And it doesn’t matter what age you are or what condition your body is in, when it comes to new life, he can give it to anyone and everyone who puts their faith in Jesus.

For someone who is doing this for the very first time, they are ‘born again’ and given salvation!

For someone who has already done this and continues to give their lives to Jesus, every day is like the first! We have been made new.

Please join us as we pray for our faithful team member - that the operation goes well, his recovery is full, as he will feel ‘just like new’ at this time, inside and out.

There are many ways to give.And we should only give from what we’ve got.We all have different things to offer. Whether i...
18/07/2026

There are many ways to give.

And we should only give from what we’ve got.

We all have different things to offer. Whether it’s our unique talent, our expertise or the resources that our available to us.

On a recent night out we were part of a beautiful exchange of gifts.

As we occasionally do, we handed out a pot noodle to a hungry rough sleeper.

In return, we were serenaded with a lovely bit of harmonica playing.

What a wonderful moment!

Now, let’s be clear, we are not likening Jesus’ salvation and our response to a pot noodle or a few notes on a mouth organ.

But just to say, the greatest gift ever given was this:

Because God so loved the world he sent his only Son that for everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

What a gift!! And one we couldn’t ever deserve or earn.

So what can we give in exchange for that?

Paul in the Bible says it best; we offer our very bodies, our lives, as a living sacrifice.

He calls that “our reasonable worship”.

Finding ways to serve God and walk daily with Jesus in this life is the least we can do for The One who has saved us from a life of darkness, loss, confusion, forever.

And being a Street Pastor - visiting Portsmouth’s streets late into the night to listen, care and help - is one way we show our love and appreciation to God and what he has done for us.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

If it’s eternal life, then maybe it’s time to join us in our worship in serving on the streets of Portsmouth?

Contact us for more info: [email protected]

In one of our recent visits to a school, we were talking to a group of boys about the World Cup. Some of them agreed wit...
11/07/2026

In one of our recent visits to a school, we were talking to a group of boys about the World Cup.

Some of them agreed with one of our school pastors that women’s football was better!

While we talking, one of the boys mentioned something more serious.

He shared with us that he had a heart condition. He continued to describe what he can and can’t do.

Conversations like whether men’s or women’s football is better are good fun and people will have different views!

But the importance of our hearts is not up for debate.

It is not the will of God that anyone should suffer with bad health. And yet, we live in a world where there is a lot of suffering, heart failure and broken hearts.

For those who put there faith in God, the Bible says this:

My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
‭(Psalms‬ ‭73‬:‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬).

Things like sports are great! We love it. And over time, what is popular and trendy in sports can change.

But what doesn’t change is who God is and his promises for those who believe in him. Our Father in heaven will never allow us to lose strength and will always be there for us, no matter what.

(It’s coming home!)

Some people can find it surreal to see teachers on a night out! It’s like seeing two completely two different worlds col...
11/07/2026

Some people can find it surreal to see teachers on a night out!

It’s like seeing two completely two different worlds collide.

And yet, teachers - probably more than most professions - need a way to relax, to wind down, to enjoy themselves.

In a recent patrol of Portsmouth’s nightlife, we came across a group of teachers who were doing just that - letting their hair down. We had some great conversations including about faith.

To us, a great way to let off some steam is to come to the feet of Jesus.

This is how Jesus puts it:

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭NLT‬‬).

Jesus is the best teacher. He is full of knowledge and humble and gentle in how he shares it. The way that he teaches and the things he teaches brings great rest!

Imagine a kind of teaching that leads to rest, rather than needing rest from being a teacher!

Let’s pray for all the teachers in our city as they near the end of the academic year - that they find great rest and relaxation following all the hard work!

(If you’d like to get closer to the world of teaching and offer a friendly Christian presence to our city’s schools, why not consider joining our Portsmouth School Pastors team?)

It should never have gone this far.What started out as just a night out with some friends takes a sudden dramatic and wo...
04/07/2026

It should never have gone this far.

What started out as just a night out with some friends takes a sudden dramatic and worrying turn as one of your friends is having handcuffs applied and is about to be guided into the back of a police car.

It is especially concerning when a young person’s life takes this direction.

No parent plans to see their child end up behind bars.

The good news is, nobody has ever gone so far that they are out of reach of Jesus.

Jesus offers freedom to everyone, including the prisoner. While our actions have very real consequences, being set free in the spirit and given eternal life is the promise the Father has for anyone when they receive him.

We recently witnessed the police with three young people outside one of the clubs in Portsmouth and later saw one of them getting arrested.

Let’s pray for those young people in the city - the paths they choose and decisions they make - and if this does go in the wrong direction for some, that they might experience the love of God, wherever they may end up.

Address

St. Luke's Church
Portsmouth
PO54LH

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Portsmouth Street Pastors posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to Portsmouth Street Pastors:

Shortcuts

Share

Category