Forres Academy to welcome school pastors on board

FORRES Academy will welcome an intake of school pastors next week.

The pastors do the same work as street pastors – "listening, caring and helping" – in a school environment. There are school pastors active in Elgin, Aberdeen and Perth.

A commissioning service will be held at Forres Baptist Church, on Clovenside Road, on Tuesday, February 25, at 7pm to formally launch school pastors at the academy.

Forres Academy head teacher Catherine Reilly will welcome the new pastors on behalf of the school. Sandy Scrimgeour, CEO of Ascension Trust (Scotland), the umbrella group that oversees street pastors nationally, will be in Forres to formally commission the volunteers.

There are 10 Forres school pastors to be commissioned. There are also eight Elgin school pastors to be commissioned as well as eight Elgin street pastors.

Moray Council convener Councillor Shona Morrison will attend, as will Inspector Colin Mowat to represent Police Scotland.

Gordon Methven, Elgin Street Pastors co-ordinator, said: "To have 26 people formally commissioned at once is absolutely phenomenal.

"That is an incredibly high number being commissioned at the same time, and is an enormous credit to the congregations of the churches of Moray and shows their willingness to give their time and talent to help address issues in their communities."

Street pastors provide a Christian presence on the streets at night-times in 23 locations around Scotland.