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Alpha Course

Contact Mark or Sam at The Crossing for further details
email: samuelinwalsall@googlemail.com

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Walsall Street Ministry

‘Seek the peace and prosperity of the city
to which I have carried you for exile.
Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers,
you too will prosper.

Jeremiah 29:7

Walsall Street Ministry has become a regular feature outside the Crossing every Friday night from 9pm until 12 midnight.

We minister to anyone who is out and about in the town at that time.

We are all Christians from various churches and denominations in Walsall and we erect a gazebo in the car-park of St Paul’s at The Crossing every Friday at 9pm and give out free squash, coffee, chocolate, tea and cup-a-soup to any one who wants it. We have tables and chairs and welcome everyone. We wear orange hi-viz jackets and have two notices offering free drinks, a place to sit and a listening ear!

Each Friday night we have regular visitors, who come and have a good chat and a laugh with us, and occasionally a prayer, and then there are the people who are just passing through. Whichever group they fit into, they all say that what we are doing is a good thing. Offering soft drinks also helps to water down the alcohol!

The door men on the pubs and clubs all say that the town centre is a better place since we have been there – there appears to be less violence and the atmosphere has changed for the better. That is fantastic news.

How it has evolved.

The original aim of the Street Ministry was to ‘bless’ the young people, most of them aged 18-25 who throng Darwall Street every Friday evening, to challenge gently their perception of ‘church’ and to set alongside the binge drinking culture a safe, quiet oasis.

However, in the four-year’s that our teams of volunteers have been working we have increasingly worked alongside people who are homeless and on the margins of society. We are able to distribute warm clothing as well as soup, hot chocolate, pot noodles and the like to those in need. It has been a wonderful opportunity to engage with the local community.

Homelessness in Walsall

In response to our working with many homeless people, the council have set up a committee looking into homelessness in Walsall and their response to it. Mark Kinder the vicar of St Paul’s and I have attended several planning meetings.

The Chief executive of the council has visited the ministry to see what we do and meet homeless people. Last year in the severe weather some emergency beds were made available for use by the homeless through our efforts to improve provision for the homeless in Walsall.

Working in partnership

For the last three years we have joined up with the local Muslim community during Ramadan and put on a ‘curry night’ which is always well received!

I have been contacted as co-ordinator of the project to go and talk about the ministry at various venues who are interested in setting up similar schemes. I an in contact with the police and they are very supportive of the scheme and can then advise people where to get help on a Friday night or just go an ‘chill out’.

If you want to know more about this project please contact: The Crossing at St. Paul’s, Darwall Street, Walsall, WS1 1DA. Co-ordinator - Pat Stone Secretary - Sue Howles 01922 620669. sue.howles@btconnect.com Street Ministry Co-ordinator - Pat Stone

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Teams/House Groups

Information coming soon!

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