A Flourishing Church With A Big Vision!

Back in early 2006, Brett and Michelle Mitchell and their three children from Crossway Baptist Church (CBC), sensed God’s call to explore the possibility of starting a small group in Craigieburn. They began an ‘outreach’ into the area with the hope of birthing a new Church by approaching both people they knew and others within the Craigieburn area.

An initial group of interested people started to meet for the first time in October 2006.

“The first time we ‘connected’ with the local community was at the Craigieburn Festival. Over 500 balloons (advertising Crossway Kids is coming to Craigieburn), free drinks and gifts were given away. Most importantly, 145 ‘Community Survey questionnaires’ were filled out by passers-by.” Brett said. “We followed up this outreach with a personal invitation to all our new contacts to a ‘Fabulous Free Family Fun Feast’ on Easter Sunday.”

Through these outreach activities, God brought more families and people to the small group. In less than a year, Crossway North Baptist Church was officially launched at Willmott Park Primary School in Craigieburn.

“Attendance grew quickly and within a year of launching we had over 100 people attending each week!”

Initially supported by CBC, Crossway North’s worship and children’s teams grew and were soon flourishing with a team of dedicated volunteers. The church continued to flourish with God’s blessings. Over the years, new ministries were established to reach out to the communities in Wallan and Kilmore.

“Playgroups, P.O.K.I.T.S (Parents of Kids in the Spectrum), Love in Action, our North Youth Ministries and a small group meeting in the Plenty Valley Retirement Village saw us reaching out to the community around us in different ways.”

1st January 2018 marked the beginning of a new name for Crossway North Baptist Church to become “North Church”. In the same year, Pastor Samy and Martha Kaldas launched North Arabic Baptist Church which quickly developed into a thriving community for new immigrants worshipping in their mother tongue.

North Church’s mission is to be “A Whole people, caring for the whole world” with a big vision: “We see God leading a caring family, thriving through discipleship, locally engaged, regionally focused, globally aware and constantly giving birth to new mission.”

Please join us in praying together for North Church as they work towards bringing their vision into reality, the future into the present and to fulfill their mission as A Whole People, Caring For the Whole World!

Urban Xposure: Young Adult Adventures

Going to Cambodia on a Global Xposure in January was a transformational experience! How you ask? Well, God opened my eyes to what His mission looks like, not only in Global context, also in my local context! The Xposure trip had me asking questions and reflecting about what I had observed and how we could bring our learning back home.

We visited several incredible social enterprises that helped the Cambodian people on the margins to learn new trades, be rehabilitated, become educated and re-enter the work force. We saw the impact of faithful cross cultural workers who were serving, building relationships with their local community and making a difference in the lives of those they had met. Our team experienced local village life and community within the friendships of local workers. We feasted together, shared stories, shared life and saw what God is doing amongst the least reached people groups. The end of the trip was spent in reflection – there was a time of solitude, listening and hearing from God, times of laughter and fun, poignant times of sharing our hearts and coaching through our next steps as we headed back into our local communities in Australia.

Urban Xposure was birthed out of our Cambodian experience.  How could we learn from what we saw overseas and use it in our local church context? How could we inspire the next generation to put down their devices and engage with their neighbours?!

We started by having an Unearthed Feast in July this year with mission minded youth and young adults from various churches at Kilsyth South Baptist Church. Like in Cambodia, we ate together and heard from a young adult, Andy, a Global Interaction candidate. We had opportunities to share our stories, ask questions, dig deeper and reflect on what we had heard.

Having done some research, Creation Care and Social Justice Issues were areas young adults want to engage. Our first Urban Xposure was to explore Planted Places, a social enterprise in the heart of our city focussing on Creation Care. We had a group of seven young adult leaders from various churches and backgrounds join us in September to visit ‘The Green Room,’ which is operated by Planted Places and run by Sherry and Geoff Maddock. They shared about their mission, which is to directly address disadvantage through the cultivation of relationships through plants, people, and place. They do this by connecting with people experiencing social isolation and hardship, specifically asylum seekers, refugees and international students.

Sherry shared her heart for what they do, “Our generosity doesn’t have limits, we need to love people who do not feel loved, we need to wake up each morning with a lens of love.” These inspiring words had us excited to hear and see more. Geoff shared their history and experience of mission in the US, reminding us that “social isolation is an epidemic.” Sherry encouraged us to “live a life that evokes questions, as we are the ones that hold the light to share Gods love in the world.”

On reflection of their time in ‘The Green Room’ the team shared that Sherry and Geoff “were passionate, genuine, engaging and really transparent, their energy was contagious, what they are doing is incredible.” Another stated “I really enjoyed the opportunity to come across a different type of missionary, it inspired me to try and involve the people I work with in a similar eye-opening experiences.”

Our Urban Xposure team then met for lunch and heard from Wendy, a Cross Cultural worker from Global Interaction, who had served in Asia for over nine years with her family. She shared about their call, their Creation Care experiences, her involvement running a café and family life. She shared that “God lights up each step ahead, not the whole path” and that “we need to trust Him as we walk our journey.” Another inspiring story from an amazing woman of faith. The team shared afterwards “it was inspiring, and they loved “how strong she was,” and “it was so real and raw.” One of the team shared how they felt after hearing of Wendy’s experiences “being a missionary is not easy, you have to go through a lot of difficulties at times, but if you put yourself in God, nothing is impossible.”

The common word to encapsulate our day was “INSPIRING!” We spent time debriefing and reflecting upon our learnings and what it may mean for our local context.

The third aspect of the Urban Xposure was a Reflect Day on Monday 28th October in Warrandyte.  This day somewhat resembled time that we carved out in Cambodia to reflect on what we had seen and heard. We began with community, with six young adults sharing coffee together at “the church of my heart,” as Callum one of young adults described our home base for the day, Now and Not Yet Café. Walking along the beautiful surrounds of the Yarra river in Warrandyte allowed us time to “take a moment and listen,” to slow down, reflect on the story of Jonah, and Jesus calming the storm. We spent time on our own to shift our gaze towards Jesus, asking questions, listening and meditating on God’s Word.

During a delightful lunch, we met with a Global Interaction cross cultural worker R, who described his experiences in Asia and shared his heart with us about faith and building relationships.  Jamie, another young adult felt challenged by R to be “hungry for the Lord – as you are what you eat,” and that we need to seek Jesus “as He will provide us with the daily strength to face the world’s challenges.”  We then met with Derek Bradshaw, who gave us insight about what church looks at Now and Not Yet Café, and how Global Interaction and his Global Xposure trip to Asia played an important part in his story. We heard about his desire for those entering into the Café to experience the love, care and community Jesus offers. Amazingly, we learnt that his visit overseas, to our previous speaker, Wendy’s Café, sparked his idea to start the Café environment church in Warrandyte. After hearing Derek, Joel shared that he “realised how we are already in God’s kingdom and we need to live out that kingdom for everyone to see,” he also realised that “Church doesn’t always have to look like church, it just has to be a place for people to experience Jesus.”

Why run Urban Xposure? We want to partner with churches, youth groups, young adults and individuals to start thinking about what Global Mission looks like in our own neighbourhoods. This will then give us the opportunity to look at what we already do well, and how we can use what we have observed and become creative in innovating what mission looks like in our local church context. It is a springboard to exploring what Global Mission looks like and how Global Interaction’s missiology, ‘empowering communities to develop their own distinctive ways of following Jesus,’ is relevant in our daily interactions and walk with God.

Oh, by the way, I was so inspired and transformed by my Cambodian Global Xposure that I gave up my job as a Primary teacher (15 years!) to work as the Young Adults Consultant at Global Interaction!

Sulari Nielsen
Global Interaction, Young Adults Consultant Vic/Tas

From Alien to Pastor; Pastor to those alienated

In 1960s China, seven-year old Jun Tan was put up on a stage with his family in front of 3,000 angry men. Young Jun was gripped with fear. His American-trained pilot father had been targeted and the family was ostracised and humiliated wherever they went. The Cultural Revolution placed Jun and his family in great danger.

Jun Tan reflects on this tumultuous time as preparation for the years to come – years where his atheistic beliefs would be challenged, his longing for purpose would span decades, and his identity as someone who was excluded from the community would ultimately be met by God and be the motivator for his ministry.

Having studied at a top Chinese university, Jun became a highly regarded scientist, who was part of the communist army. “As a young person in China, I truly believed that communism is where contribution is according to one’s ability, and distribution is according to need.” Jun was one with much to contribute. His intellect opened doors to Australia in 1987 where he began a doctorate with a scholarship at Melbourne University. Jun’s scientific career was flourishing.

However, by 1989, Jun had become disenfranchised with communism and lost hope in all he believed to be true. He was an alien in this new country, and now in search of a completely new understanding of life and its purpose. He soon became drawn to the Western ideals being lived out by those around him – to work for oneself and fight for one’s own rights and interests – a marked departure from his communist roots.

He decided to leave his studies to start a business, keeping him busy for almost a decade. In the milieu of competing world views and personal circumstance, Jun found his life dramatically lacking. “My business got me to where I wanted financially. Suddenly I realised that I had what I had always wanted – freedom as an Australian citizen, a family and a house. I had fulfilled my dream but I still felt empty.”

Jun states it very simply, “I had everything, but I couldn’t find purpose in myself or in life.” Once again, he felt alienated.

Finally, the resilience of his youth, coupled with his insatiable longing for purpose, turned Jun squarely towards God. To say that Jun had exhausted all options before learning of a loving God would be to deny the evident hand of God throughout this life to this point. While studying in China, Jun’s American English teacher gave him a Bible. Wanting to know the beginning of the story and how the world would end, Jun read Genesis and Revelation. And again, upon his arrival in Australia, Jun was introduced to a loving Church community by some Christian friends. The community impacted him deeply, where the ideals of sharing with those in need and contributing according to ability were genuinely lived out. However, the attraction to this community was momentary.

And now, having achieved his dream, but feeling the pain of his purpose shattered, Jun got in his car, and drove around aimlessly. He happened upon Northcote Baptist Church; a community introduced to him weeks earlier by one of his staff members. “I remember sitting in my car thinking that it is ridiculous to say that there is a God. It goes against everything I knew as a scientist. So, I asked God, ‘If you are real, I will give you three months to prove yourself to me. Tell me why I am here and explain all the things that are happening to me!’”

He entered the church and without speaking to anyone there, Jun sensed God speaking directly to him through the services. He returned week after week and within only a short time, he felt called to be baptised but his wife was against it. He persuaded his wife to follow him to church and two months later, she made the same decision. The transformation in Jun’s life was the catalyst for her own belief. He had changed in many ways. He learned to apologise; he grew in sensitivity; he abandoned drinking. But transformation was not on his mind. He reflects on this time, “I don’t even know what Baptism means but I knew I wanted to respond to God.”

Eight months after first sensing God speaking to him through the services at Northcote Baptist Church (NBC), Jun was baptised. His desire to hear from God was deepened further. “I felt a strong desire to seek God. I felt safe when I was talking to God. In fact, I talked to God continuously. It was the last thing I did before going to bed and the first thing I did when I woke up. I didn’t know that I was praying. I thought I was just talking to God.”

Jun began serving as a Sunday school teacher at NBC and one day, he taught the children about finding God’s plan in their life. “I realised it was too hard for the young ones to understand and more importantly, I realised that I’ve never asked God the question ‘what is your plan for my life?’”

Through the counsel of friends, a vision to repent and an invitation to attend a Theology class, Jun started his journey towards becoming a pastor. Jun quit his business and began full time studies. While fellow students talked about ‘calling’ and their hopes for their futures, Jun admitted to knowing nothing (even the term ‘calling’) except his desire to know God and his plans for Jun’s life. Jun graduated in 2005 and stepped into the role as part time pastor to the NBC Chinese congregation.

In August 2018, Jun assumed the role of Senior Pastor to the Balwyn Baptist community. His focus is on the alienated – those who may find themselves ordinarily excluded. Where society’s culture can seek to exclude, the Kingdom Culture that Jun fights for is inclusive – where people belong before they believe; where communion is offered, and individuals decide if they’ll accept.

Balwyn Baptist Church seeks to follow Jesus’ example and include people in their community regardless of their belief. Jun goes to great lengths to ensure people know they are welcome. He pre-records Sunday sermons in Chinese, which are played in parallel with the sermon delivered in English. It is unsurprising that many new migrant families are finding their home and finding their feet in this community.

We may use the term multicultural to describe this gathering in Balwyn, but Jun hopes the phrase will lose its currency. ‘Multicultural gatherings’ are simply a matter of life. Kingdom culture, focused on the redemption won by Jesus, includes everyone.

Jun Tan and his wife Xu Ping
Rev Jun Tan also serves as a member of BUV Ordination Discernment Group and as a tutor for Transformation at Whitley College.

Dchurched – but still walking with Jesus

Last year, with the support of BUV, I began a podcast and Facebook community to reach out to those on the fringes of church life. I was motivated by the many who love Jesus but struggle with church for various reasons. Often called wanderers or wayfarers or the dechurched.

Some of them find the structures of traditional denominations too restrictive or have been wounded by the church. Others have left and joined the swelling ranks of those who would call themselves Christian, but don’t currently attend. All of them would fall into a broad category of “Jesus I like. Organised religion, not so much”. 

Reaching this disparate group of people has been challenging, but steadily rewarding as numbers respond appreciatively to either our Facebook page or the 20 or so podcasts we have released so far.

One person contacted me from inter-state saying that he was struggling with issues relating to the values being communicated in his church and he had found the podcast discussions really helpful. Similarly a woman from Queensland was in transition moving from her church and she found one of the podcast series particularly helpful as she works through her healing journey.

I liken the journey that some seem to be on as that of a lobster having grown too large for its shell. The journey of leaving the shell is a time of vulnerability and risk before a new shell can be found. A transition during which, all too many, give up on faith altogether. My vision is to provide opportunity for them to hear a voice of understanding with opportunity to contact me for support, as some do.

Pastoral care online has its limitations, but if even a few folks maintain their walk with Jesus and find fellowship with other disciples rather than drift from church, then it is fantastically worthwhile.

Rev. Julian Holdsworth

Box Hill Celebrated 118th Anniversary

Box Hill Baptist Church celebrated its 118th Anniversary on 20th October. The preacher for the occasion, Rev Tim Costello, focussed on the fact that the church was founded in 1901, the same year as Australia was founded through the Federation of the previously independent states. Throughout its history, the Box Hill church has echoed some of the social outlook and views of the Australian nation.

 

In 1901 the suburb of Box Hill was just starting to ‘take off’.  The impacts of the property crash of the 1890’s was starting to lessen and shops and houses were appearing amid the orchards and farms of Box Hill. The coming of the railway linked Box Hill with the centre of Melbourne and with settlements as far away as Lilydale. This connection with other communities is reflected in the sharing of a pastor (the impressively named Martin Luther Murphy!) with the Lilydale Church from 1902-1907.

The first church roll reflects a varied membership. Of the 29 foundation members approximately a third had joined by transfer from another Baptist church, a third by baptism and a third by profession of faith. This last group includes a number of members of the United Free Methodist Church who left the Box Hill chapel to join with the new Baptist cause. The ‘open membership’ and inclusive character of the Box Hill church dates from its foundation.

The young church engaged with the social issues of the day – gambling and alcohol, and (perhaps surprisingly in an age when not a few Baptist men smoked pipes) opposition to the smoking of cigarettes which was held to be “injurious both physically and morally to young men”.

The church has always had an interest in the Baptist Union and wider Baptist work. In the 1930’s the Surrey Hills Baptist Church was planted from Box Hill and Blackburn North Baptist Church (now NewHope Baptist Church) in the early 1950’s.

The area of Box Hill and surrounds was a Methodist stronghold. When all the local government areas of Victoria voted whether to have alcohol-free zones, Box Hill and Camberwell was the only area to vote to become a dry zone. The absence of hotels and venues providing alcohol significantly shaped the local community as a middle-class suburb of a particular character. It is only in the last few years, after a nearly a century, that the provision of alcohol in cafes and nightclubs has begun to grow.

In his anniversary sermon, Tim Costello highlighted how the development of the church has echoed the evolving social values of Australia. Indigenous issues, the expropriation of indigenous land and the destruction of indigenous culture did not figure in the thinking of church or society until the 1960’s, when Aboriginal Australians were belatedly included in the census and anthropologists like Bill Stanner began to popularise a deeper understanding of the intricate and complex culture and worldview of Australia’s First Nations. In an age when the White Australia policy dominated immigration Box Hill was an overwhelmingly white, middle class, Christian community, sheltered from the dynamics of ethnic and cultural diversity that were seen in inner suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne.

As Australia developed a greater openness to immigrants, refugees and indigenous people, the Box Hill Church also developed new programs and openness to the varied community that was growing around them. Through a succession of ministers since the 1970’s the church found its vision widening to include a passion for social justice and service to people on the margins. A social housing service (Jubilee Housing) was commenced in partnership with the Blackburn North church and continues today. Ministry with Cambodian refugees resulted in the formation of the Cambodian Christian Community, a worshipping and community support network that continues to meet in the Box Hill buildings. The Village Well Counselling Service and Village Well Community Centre delivered a range of community services from ‘the Barn’ – the original church building, moved next door from its original site and refurbished to serve the community in the 1920’s. Over the last ten years The Gallery has provided a focus and support for local artists in the front of the church building on Station Street.

Box Hill as a community has experienced profound change. Emeritus Professor Graeme Davison (a distinguished urban historian and member of the Box Hill congregation) says that no municipality in Australia has undergone such deep and wide-ranging change as Box Hill. From a sheltered and alcohol free, white, middle-class suburb in the 1960’s, it is now a bustling business and transport hub complete with high rise office and apartment towers, with significant diversity of population, especially its Chinese and Indian communities.

The CSIRO’s Australian National Outlook 2019 sees a trend of “higher-density, multicentre and well‑connected capital cities to reduce urban sprawl and congestion” (Executive Summary p. 26). The same report sees the rise of Asia as a key element of our wider context: “By 2030, the Asia–Pacific region is set to consume more than half the world’s food, 40% of its energy and be home to an estimated 65% of the world’s middle class.” (p. 8)

Both these trends will impact the Box Hill community through its development as a high-rise urban hub and the growing linkages between the city and China. As a faithful community that seeks to follow Jesus, the Box Hill Baptist Church will prayerfully discern the leading of the Holy Spirit as we continue our second century of ministry in a rapidly changing context.

Rev Jim Barr
Pastor, Box Hill Baptist Church

White Sunday

It is a tradition in Samoa to celebrate White Sunday every year on a second Sunday of October. This special day is to celebrate and acknowledge our children of all ages by their parents, grandparents, all families and the community.

It is tradition for all children to wear their finest white clothes on this day (White Sunday).

The children will lead the service, act in special programmes, learn Bible verses in English and Samoan language. They will also show their talents like singing, dancing, skits and other creative acts and they also give the message of the day.

  

 

Lastly everyone will enjoy a big lunch/feast and again the children will eat first.

We as parents, church leaders and Sunday School teachers are so proud of our children for showing their talents, involved in skits and learning their Bible verses.

All praises and glory to God for blessing our children with amazing talents and also for his healing and protection on them everyday.

Tooradin 
Samoan Victory Baptist Church

Sweet Eats and Laughs

Over the past 12 months, Heathmont Baptist Church has been running a ministry called “Sweet Eats & Laughs”. The idea was born after talking with a number of females, including young mums, working women and realising that the common feeling shared amongst them was one of busyness and tiredness, combined with a subtle nagging guilt that as Christians we should be doing more to build relationships and to reach out to our neighbours and community. The missing ingredient? ….. Joy – a sense of the fun.

So we decided to create a night called Sweet Eats & Laughs. We run this once a quarter. One ingredient we are committed to is laughter as we realise in our every day lives, good laughs can be few and far between and the reality is that we actually need to intentionally schedule in laughter!  

So our nights involve delicious food, champagne on arrival and activities that are fun and interactive. Our latest one in October was our Market Night, where we had a number of stalls and a huge clothes swap. People brought along their no longer worn clothes and brought home a brand new wardrobe for free!

We look for activities where our women can invite their non-churched friends and know they will have a great night. And more importantly, where they can see that getting together with us is fun! Laughter being one of our underlying themes, we were able to naturally bring in a thought for discussion on what an amazing sense of humour God must have!

Syndal BC inducted Rev Chris Danes as Senior Pastor on 65th Anniversary

Syndal Baptist Church(SBC) began on October 10, 1954 in the home of Ray and Jean Williams. It was a group of mainly young families. Over the years, prayer has undergirded much of what happens.

Today, the church sees around 1,000 people in worship services on a Sunday. There are 7 services each Sunday – Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean and 3 English.

Our mission is to ‘present Jesus, provide nurture and produce disciples’ and our tag line is ‘Life together is a gift’ i.e. Life together with God, with one another and with those we encounter day to day is a wonderful opportunity to partner with God in his mission. One of the greatest challenges for Syndal and every church is to help every follower of Jesus to know that they represent Jesus and are on mission wherever they are and whatever they are doing. It involves recapturing the secret of Jesus to see where God is at work and join in that mission (see John 5:19). Because the Father is always at work it means every day has opportunities to partner with him.

At our 65th Church Anniversary on October 13th, Rev Chris Danes was inducted as our fourth Senior Pastor. 

Induction of Chris Danes

Rev Bill Brown, our church’s 3rd Senior Pastor, encouraged Chris from Colossians 1:28-29: “to proclaim Jesus, to do it as a team, through encouragement, prayer, working with God and each other, training, helping people engage with life and learn from it, all the time relying on the Spirit of God working in and through us to present everyone fully equipped for life, growing up as God wants for us.”  Then Bill challenged the congregation to build Chris’ spiritual influence by praying for him, build his reputation by speaking well of him, build his spirit and morale by encouraging him and Jo-Anne and their family, build his leadership by cooperating with him and learning together and together keep following the Jesus we seek together to proclaim and exemplify. 

 

 

JonathanRev Jonathan Stark, Head of Pastoral Leadership Support & Development with Baptist Union of Victoria, led the induction and family members and people from the congregation came forward and prayed for Chris as he was inducted. “There was a great sense of excitement at both morning services as the seven congregations came together to hear Chris make his promises and to express their own commitment to encourage, support and participate with Chris in advancing the kingdom of God.

 

 

Chris DanesRev Chris Danes then spoke to the congregation, sharing how in midst of his wrestling about whether he would be able to be the kind of leader that Bill was, God gave him a response to the doubts in his mind, “Chris I have not call you to Be Bill Brown. I already have one of those! I have called you to be Chris Danes!” Chris added, “And so I stand before you and say, “I can never be Bill! But I can be Chris! And with God’s anointing I think we can accomplish great things together.” Chris declared, “I am here today because I love God. I love the people of Syndal Baptist Church. And I believe if we bear Christ together, we can be a light to the world.” Chris’ name, Christopher, means bearing Christ and he added, “Christ-bearer… that’s the measure for me… and I am hoping that as we walk the road together that will be the measure for Syndal Baptist Church. Individually and collectively! 

We celebrate with Syndal Baptist Church as they look forward to all that is ahead!

Views from the Manse – Part 2: Introduction to Tekin

Before I was 4, I had been exposed to Chinese, Indian, Malay, and colonial English cultures (add war and peace to that, if they are cultures). By the time I was 14 I was enrolled in an International Christian Missionary School with Dutch, German, English, Canadian, USA, South African, Swiss, Australian, and New Zealand children and living in the Japan.

We actively learnt about all these different cultures and customs. Yule logs from England, Christmas trees from Germany, clog shoes from Holland and Christmas carols from everywhere. We learnt lots of different National Anthems. But Australia’s was always ‘God save the Queen’.

So… when I arrived at Tekin in Papua New Guinea, and saw the primitive dress, bows and arrows and grass huts, I viewed these were just a variation on the lives of many kinds of people whom I had already learnt about.

By primitive dress I mean clothing made out of local materials and not from cloth imported from half way around the world. This took some getting used to. I was glad that we had been married 6-7 weeks earlier as I was from a family of four girls. However one dear friend from Melbourne, a single, missionary minded young woman whispered to me as she got off her plane “Where do I look?”  I replied “Straight into their eyes and smile.”

On special occasions, the men would dress up and wear an extravagant head-dress made of a great flamboyant array of spectacularly coloured feathers. These make a wonderful display when they all dance at a sing-sing (normally connected with initiation ceremonies during spirit worship).

But the normal street dress for men was nothing more than a penis sheath. These were made of gourds which as we all know grow in all shapes and sizes. They were held in place by strings attached to circles of thin bamboo (belts) around their waists. Fortunately, only smallish gourds were used in our area. In lrian Jaya, the men wore longer bamboo pipes that could stretch up as high as their heads.

On the other hand, the women only wore the shortest of grass skirts and nothing on top. (I felt this may have been more of a distraction to our ‘holy, missionary husbands’ than the gourds were to me).

Along with all the cultural differences, we carefully listened to our senior missionaries and tried to fit into the culture where we could, but discarded anything to do with the animistic worship. (Even though it had nothing to do with animistic worship Lindsay did not take to wearing a gourd nor did I start wearing no more than a grass skirt).

In a prayer meeting, I closed my eyes (and still do) so as to be able to concentrate on talking to God.

One day in corporate prayer – when all stood and prayed out loud together – I was distracted and extremely humbled by a dear person praying quietly behind me and thanking God for giving them missionaries who had brought the good news of salvation to them.

Editor’s note: Some questions
How well do we look people in the eye and engage them in conversation when we meet them for the first time? How often do we disengage because of brightly coloured hair, a great flourish of bling, a flashy earring or some audacious tattoos?

Has the time come when we need to accept people who wear something other than a blue rinse, a wedding ring and a few freckles?

Should we ourselves become more engaged with our local cultures and expect to se people at church to wearing footy scarves in winter (other than at a funeral) or our youth workers to wearing slashed jeans and tattoos?

October Gathering Wrap

Nourish: Imagine

Nourish

We kicked off October Gathering on 18 October with Nourish where we spent the day with our pastors (and their spouses) to “Imagine” the possibilities and impact of being part of a movement of flourishing churches in Victoria together.

Our BUV Director of Mission & Ministries, Rev Daniel Bullock, led us in opening our minds to new possibilities by dreaming of what our churches might look like if we invited God to inspire those dreams for our Church, and to imagine how the Church might then flourish beyond all expectations.

Daniel said: “I have a dream of flourishing Baptist churches in every corner of Victoria – produce passionate disciples who will bring hope and transformation to our world, and I am looking forward to hearing the great stories of transformed lives and communities and I hope you share my dream, not only for your church but for all churches.”  

Using John 15, Dr Lynn Moresi from Whitley College encouraged us to imagine our churches transformed with Christ-like disciples whose encounters with all those around us were characterised by the love and welcome of Jesus.

Following a tasty and satisfying lunch, and a relaxed opportunity to catch up with colleagues and friends, Rev Dr David Talathoti invited us all to imagine our churches filled with people from all cultures who felt a sense of belonging and identity. He used the example of Dandenong Church welcoming members of their local community to weekly events, where many have found acceptance and friendship beyond the limitations of their cultural and religious restrictions.

Rev Carolyn Francis from Collins Street Baptist Church capped off Nourish by inviting us to imagine what it could look like to see a whole society redeemed and transformed by the faithful and genuine witness of all believers to the crucified and risen Christ.

“I valued the reminder that we are witnesses to redemption when, to people living in fear and confusion, we offer our vulnerability, woundedness, and peace.”
– Rev Alison Sampson, Sanctuary Baptist Church

 

Members’ Dinner
Members Dinner

In the evening, over 300 delegates attended the Members’ Dinner where we voted for Mick Turnbull to be reappointed as a member of the Union Council for another three years. We also thanked Rev Dr Allan Demond for his six years of service to the BUV as a member of Union Council and we invited nomination for a new Union Council member by Friday, 8thNovember.

Debbie Uy, Director of Finance and Administration, presented the proposed 2020 Pastoral Stipends and proposed 2020 Membership Fee. The Assembly accepted both proposals by show of hands.

Rev Daniel Bullock provided an update on the Baptist Identity Project. He thanked churches for their input at the five Consultation Forums and confirmed that the current doctrinal statements and principles and ideals of faith documents will remain with a revision of wording and phrasing using modern language.

Our discussion topic for the evening was centred around Climate Change with Dr Keith Dyer from Whitley College, presenting on the Biblical and theological reflection. He pointed out eschatological misreading on heaven and rapture as not biblical, and stressed the earth needs redemption not annihilation.

We celebrated and welcomed three new constituent churches: Kangaroo Flat Karen Baptist Church, Grace Baptist Church of Melbourne and Zomi Mission Church; three faith communities: Melbourne Agape Baptist Church, Ebenezer Karen Baptist Church and Radiant Church; and two new Missional Communities: Sandy Life Baptist Church and Social foundry. We also farewelled Thurgoona Baptist Church.

The evening concluded with Rev Daniel Bullock sharing a new vision for the BUV: “To be a union of flourishing churches with Christlike followers, that redeems society and brings transformation to Victoria.” He encouraged churches to use the Flourishing Church Framework to measure themselves and back up the rating with current stories of transformation.

Flourishing Church Framework

“I am convinced that every church in our Union has some good news stories of transformation to share, I am convinced that most churches are flourishing in some shape or form. But I am also sure that we are not flourishing to the fullness of God’s intention and I want to make sure we in the Union office are directing our resources to help change that.” 

This framework will be communicated to all churches in 2020 as an assessment tool.

“I found the day both encouraging and inspiring. The BUV’s vision and flourishing church framework resonates well and will help us with our own visioning.”
– Rev Paul Llewellyn, Knox Community Baptist Church

 

Nourish photos
Nourish Presentation slides
Members’ Pack
Members’ Dinner slides
Minutes from Members’ Dinner
Members’ Dinner photos