This week, Baptist Churches from across Australia are participating in National Baptism Week. Many are holding their own Baptism Sundays, while others are taking the opportunity to talk about baptism and what it means. There are often people in our congregations ready to make commitments for Jesus, they just need the opportunity and National Baptism Week can provide that.
In our Blended Ecology, Baptist churches can take many different forms, and National Baptism Week will look different in every church. Central Baptist Church and Woolloomooloo Baptist Church share about how baptism fits into their church rhythms. Whilst both operating in the heart of Sydney, these two Baptist churches look very different – Woolloomooloo Baptist is a smaller, more flexible outreach to the marginalised in the city and Central Baptist is a multi-congregational, multi-cultural community that focuses it’s ministry on families and students.
Central Baptist Church
Central Baptist Church regularly welcomes people from around the world through its doors. With five congregations worshipping across four languages, the church is used to meeting people who are only in the city for a short time. Last year, the English congregation alone estimates that they welcomed around 500–600 people for the first time.
“People come in, meet Jesus and want to be baptised,” explains John-Jo Burns, International Congregation Pastor at Central Baptist.
Over the past twelve months, 33 brothers and sisters have been baptised across Central Baptist Church’s congregations, including five in the English congregation. Their stories are as diverse as the people who walk through the doors.
One was Chris, a backpacker from the Netherlands. After arriving in Australia, Chris found himself wanting to know more about Jesus. He attended a yoga retreat south of Sydney and decided to catch the train into Sydney to find out more about Jesus. Chris came to Central Baptist, and after meeting with John-Jo and some others from the church, he decided that Jesus was God and he wanted to be baptised. With his backpacking trip coming to an end, Chris was baptised one Sunday morning before flying home that afternoon.
Another baptism was a Chinese international student who decided to follow Jesus and be baptised, only to return to China a month later. There have also been people who arrived describing themselves as atheists but were looking for something to make them happy or deal with their problems. One Thai visitor came for this reason, investigated what the Bible had to say, recognised Jesus as God, and was baptised.
This year, Central Baptist held a combined baptism service on Easter Sunday. The whole church came together for a service that reflected the diversity of the congregations, with welcomers, prayers and Bible readings in different languages.
They also hold ad hoc baptisms throughout the year. Some people request a particular Sunday, or Thursday afternoon, so that they can be baptised when parents or relatives are visiting. Whatever day, the church gathers around to celebrate.
“It’s nice to spread out the celebrations throughout the year,” says John-Jo, “and it’s nice to have a big day.” Central Baptist will have more combined Baptism Sunday services during this National Baptism Week.
Woolloomooloo Baptist Church
Woolloomooloo is a much smaller church, working in partnership with BaptistCare’s HopeStreet to minister to the marginalised in inner-city Sydney. On 14 June, Woolloomooloo Baptist celebrated two baptisms, two women from different walks of life each taking a significant step in their faith in Jesus.
“We don’t have a baptistry here, so in years gone by we’ve done baptisms in Woolloomooloo Bay,” explains Ken Hall, Pastor at Woolloomooloo Baptist Church. But with the harbour too cold for a baptism in June, Ken contacted nearby Central Baptist to ask if they could use their baptistry after one of their baptism services.
Soon, Ken booked in a date when Central already had a baptism service planned and started planning for their own Baptism Sunday. One of Central Baptist’s regular keyboard volunteers stayed behind after their service to lead Woolloomooloo in a couple of worship songs.
Both women shared brief testimonies before being baptised. The first woman, Sarah, is Ken’s niece. Having known Jesus all her life, she had been part of the Woolloomooloo Baptist family for the past three years while studying at university. Her family and around ten university friends were there to celebrate with her.
The second woman, Maria, is in her 50s and first connected with Woolloomooloo Baptist through HopeStreet. Having experienced periods of unemployment and homelessness, she had occasionally helped out HopeStreet. Earlier this year, she came along one Sunday morning not realising that church would be on. Maria stayed for the service, and returned week after week, gradually finding herself drawn into the church family. As Maria began to sense God calling her to something greater, she asked to be baptised.
For Maria, the weeks surrounding her baptism also became a reminder of God’s faithfulness. After becoming unemployed and worrying about becoming homeless again, she asked for prayer from the church. Before her lease ended, she secured a stable job.
“I just kept trusting God had something for me,” says Maria.
For Ken, the baptisms were a meaningful reminder of the importance of celebrating faith and belonging, particularly in a smaller church community.
“Baptisms are indicators of a person’s growth in their faith in Jesus and their desire to commit their lives to Him,” explains Ken, “we’re a small church and don’t have many baptisms. So when we have them, they’re very important in church life.”
Woolloomooloo Baptist and Central Baptist are leaning into their shared mission and vision for Sydney, whilst acknowledging their unique models and ministry contexts. Baptism Sunday is only one of the ways these churches are working together, with Central Baptist also contributing to Woolloomooloo Baptist’s Sunday outreach breakfasts. “It’s great to partner with Central Baptist Church,” reflects Ken, “they’re a big church with multiple congregations, and we’re 2km away and very different.”
For more stories from National Baptism Week, and for ways to get involved, visit https://www.crossover.org.au/national-baptism-week
