20 years ago, Swansea Baptist Church was looking for a new space to meet. They moved into a nearby squash centre, with a small gym attached. The church chose to continue operating the squash courts for their local community.
In 2012, Matt Brown joined the church as the Senior Pastor. Recognising that squash was a dying sport, and that their gym was the only gym in an area where everyone exercises, they decided to invest in a larger gym set up.
As the church invested their time, space and finances in the gym, the emphasis was, and has remained, on finding opportunities to love their community. The church building now functions primarily as a gym and community centre, with the sanctuary as just one part of it.
Many of the church members use the gym, meeting people from the community every day. And those that don’t use the gym commit to pray for it as an outreach of the church.
“We have 70-year-olds from church using the gym,” explains Matt, “but we know not everyone will go into the gym. But those who aren’t physically at the gym are still investing in it. They’re praying for the ministry and the people every day.”
The Caves Beach Gym is an integrated part of how Swansea Baptist engages with and supports their community. Many community members who put their kids in creche while they go to a gym class also then bring their kids to Mainly Music, a music-based playgroup run by church volunteers, which runs straight after class. Many of the young people at their holiday clubs our youth group also connected in after their parents learnt to trust the church through the gym. The churches Christmas and Easter outreaches are full of people they’ve connected with through the gym.
“It makes it easy for us to meet people and build relationships,” reflects Matt, “people feel safe in this centre, this is their community centre.”
The gym runs classes throughout the week, and many of the classes have informal breakfasts or morning teas after the class multiple times a week. “There are just so many opportunities to talk to people!” says Matt.
“The big thing for us to remember about the gym is that we still have to go and make disciples,” explains Matt, “the gym gives us access to people to love them. Coming to the gym doesn’t make people becomes a follower of Jesus. We still have to teach people in the church to go make disciples.”
The church now employs Lyn O’Brien as Gym Chaplain. Lyn is a qualified gym instructor with a heart is for the lost. “When there’s a client in the gym having a hard time or wanting to talk to someone, Lyn spends time with them and helps others in the church to do the same,” explains Matt. When she’s not walking the floor at the gym, Lyn runs two Bible studies a week, with new and not-yet Christian.
Veronica was a community member with no church background that started using the gym. She started to show some interest in the Bible, so two women from the church started reading the Bible with her at the local pub, a neutral and safe place for them all. Veronica came to faith, joined the church and became an instructor at the gym.
But everyone said that Veronica’s husband, Chris, would never become a Christian. Chris was a typical independent, self-assured ‘Aussie bloke’ with no church background no interest in faith. Slowly, God softened his heart, and Matt and another church member began to read the Bible with him. Chris is now a member of their church, instructor at the gym, and head of the gyms management committee. “Someone who walked into the gym as a non-Christian is now its champion,” shares Matt.
“We’ve never been precious about our building,” explains Matt, “our focus is on helping others know Jesus. We’re going to keep growing this ministry and training our people to reach our unique community.”
