About Us

Who we are

The Baptist Union of Victoria (BUV) is a movement of over 250 churches and communities of faith throughout Victoria, flourishing on mission together.  We are guided by a vision to be a union of flourishing churches making disciples and transforming Victoria, with a goal to double the number of Baptist churches across Victoria over 50 years to reach Victoria’s growing population with the good news of Jesus.

We’re grassroots people with a particular emphasis on the local church. Churches of all sizes and styles, in all corners of Victoria, as well Baptist agencies and affiliates who serve the community, make up the Baptist Union of Victoria. Not only are we diverse in size with churches, ranging from twenty members to several thousand, we are just as diverse in culture with over 33 languages represented within our union, and a broad range of theological styles.

The BUV has been ordaining women to pastoral positions since 1978, with one in four pastoral leaders being women. Together as a union we have affirmed that both women and men are gifted and called to be pastoral leaders and we encourage and empower women in their gifts, calling and leadership capacity.

Creating a culture of unity within diversity, a culture of inclusion and collaboration, sits at the heart of the Gospel and builds on the deep sense of community found throughout Scripture. This isn’t just theology; it’s our practical reality and our strategic advantage. 

Although each Baptist church is an autonomous entity, together we believe in the power of association. Baptist churches have historically affirmed a deep commitment to one another, based on Paul’s many injunctions for the early churches to care for one another. We come together as a union with one overall vision and mission, working to help and serve one another and the body of the church, sharing in the training of pastors and leaders, support for new church plants and churches in need of revitalisation, governance and church health services, community outreach and advocacy for the marginalised.  

When Peter was charged by Jesus to fish once again after a long fishless night, he couldn’t bring in the haul on his own. He needed his friends and colleagues to pull in the heavy nets with him. This defines who we are: a group of autonomous churches choosing to work together because God calls us to do so, enriched by different gifts, personalities, cultures and approaches – as we together live out the nature of the Kingdom of God.

The BUV Support Hub is the denomination hub that serves and supports our churches to flourish with the mission to encourage, equip and empower local church leaders to advance the Kingdom of God.

We are the Baptist Union of Victoria, and we are Flourishing on Mission

What We believe - Our Doctrinal Basis

The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.  

  • The existence of one God in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 
  • The deity and incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity. 
  • The fallen, sinful and lost estate of all people. 
  • The salvation of men and women from the penal consequences and power of sin through the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, His atoning death, His resurrection from the dead, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His unchanging priesthood. 
  • The immediate work of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of men and women, in their sanctification, and in their preservation to the heavenly Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
  • The necessity, in order to know salvation, of repentance towards God and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  
  • The resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment of all people by the Lord Jesus Christ. 
  • The two ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ, namely Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which are of perpetual obligation: Baptism being the immersion of believers upon the profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a symbol of the fellowship of the regenerate in His death, burial and resurrection; the Lord’s Supper being a memorial, until He comes, of the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Baptist Distinctives

  1. The Lordship of Christ and the authority of the Scriptures

We believe that to be a Christian one must confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus reveals himself through the Bible, which is the authority for us on matters of faith and practice. For this reason Baptists have not normally been required to accept formal creeds or statements of faith. The Lordship of Christ and the authority of the scriptures are sufficient guides for faith and action. 

  1. The church is a fellowship of believers, or a company of committed disciples

Baptists have always stressed that the church consists of believers who have been born again by God’s Spirit. Baptism is an expression of the believer’s repentance and faith and so is generally a requirement of membership in a Baptist church. Ultimate authority in a Baptist church resides, under God, in the church meeting, when members meet together to discern the mind of Christ on all matters related to the work of the church. 

  1. The priesthood of all believers 

Because the church is a fellowship of believers, each member has a living relationship with Christ, therefore each member, regardless of gender or office, is equal and has a share in the ministry of the church.  

  1. The ministry 

While everyone is equal and shares in the ministry of the church, different gifts and functions are recognized by the church. Pastors are appointed to lead the church in worship and in mission. They are seen as the equippers of the local body of believers. Ordination is the recognition by the church and the wider BUV family of these leadership gifts and responsibilities.  

  1. Baptism and church membership 

We believe the New Testament teaches that belief is confessed through baptism. Accordingly, Baptists insist that only believers may be baptised and believe that it should also be the basis of membership in a local church. Baptists practice full immersion baptism because we believe it represents the New Testament mode and best signifies death, burial and resurrection.  

The meaning of Baptism is expressed in many ways in the Bible:  

  • It is a sign of the forgiveness of sins. (Acts 2:38; 22:16)  
  • It portrays death to the old life of sin and resurrection to the new life that comes through faith in Christ. (Romans 6:3,4)  
  • It is a symbol of participation in the Body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:13)  
  • It is a confession of faith in Christ as Lord, and of the desire to obey the Lord’s specific command. (Romans 10:9, Matt 28:19,20)  
  • It is a dramatic presentation of Christ’s death burial and resurrection. (Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12)  
  • It is linked with the blessing of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38, 1 Corinthians 12:13)  

There have often been differences over ‘open’ and ‘closed’ membership in our churches. ‘Open Membership’ churches teach and practise the baptism of believers but accept Christians from other traditions into membership upon profession of their faith. ‘Closed Membership’ churches will only accept into membership those who have been baptised as believers.  

  1. Churches together 

While the local church is the essential part of the Baptist concept of the church, we have always emphasised the importance of fellowship between churches. Associations and Baptist Unions are the expression of this outlook, sharing in the support of missionary work, the training of pastors and leaders, social services and support for new and struggling churches.  

  1. Religious freedom 

Baptists have been enthusiastic supporters of religious freedom. We have opposed all forms of religious coercion and affirm the rights of all people to follow their conscience on matters of faith. We seek to affirm diversity even among our own churches.  

  1. Other denominations 

Most Baptists have always maintained fellowship and communion with other denominations and seek to find cooperative ways to work beside them.