A  substantial number of our BUV LOTE Churches consist of mostly refugees. Bear in mind that relationship and community are the main factors that glue these churches together; add to that the very limited resources and technical knowledge of how to live stream services, and you have a challenge on your hands  However, despite these difficulties, there have been some very positive results and even some churches who are thriving.  

One issue that many of the LOTE churches have faced for is generational tension – where the perception is that the first generation is still in full control of the church with the second generation sidelined.  Recently while talking to a Pastor from one our churches from the Chin community, this situation has changed. The knowledge and technical abilities of the second generation have made them very useful for the church.  In order to transition the church service to an online service, the first generation (basically, the whole leadership of the church) has handed over the organisation to the second generation. This has been successful and the leadership are very happy with the way the second generation is leading the online service.

A similar development in the relationship between leadership and the next generation is happening in other churches.  One Senior Pastor, traditionally considered to be one who would not be able to learn any new tricks, is delivering his weekly sermon through videoconferencing.  A younger member of the church successfully trained their Pastor to use technology to deliver his sermons online from his home.  I am sure this church’s leaders are appreciating input from the younger generation.

We heard from another church that is relatively small in terms of numbers, that has seen more than a five-fold increase in the number of people joining their online service – not only here in Australia but worldwide!  Relatives and friends in Myanmar heard about this church having an online service and due to restrictions in Myanmar also causing quite an impact on churches, many are joining their services online.  Since the language is not a problem, it has attracted a significant audience from overseas.

How about the financial situation in some of these churches?  Online giving is on the increase but there is still a substantial number of attendees who cannot do this.  Just prior to being unable to meet on church premises, one Pastor thought about the best way to collect the offering.  He decided to make a container / box for each household, with a slot at the top.  During the online service, there is an offering time when the attendees are invited to place their offering in the box, which will be collected once the restrictions are lifted.

Some churches have seen their offering more than doubled.  In one particular case, church attendees were encouraged to give through online bank transfer and if they needed assistance the church leaders were able to provide help   So, many members of the church are now set up and are regularly giving online and … to the church’s surprise, the attendees are being more generous online.

Another church is encouraging their members to join their online Sunday Service an hour before it starts so that they can have a chat with each other.     The online meeting is left open for another hour after the service so they can continue their connection with each other.

So, while it has been very difficult for LOTE churches to adapt to the current situation, it’s been good to hear the success stories. Many are doing just fine and some, even thriving.  They are being very creative and are getting more and more familiar with using a variety of technical tools while at the same time breaking down age old generational barriers.

Rev Marc Chan

BUV Multicultural Consultant 

In the face of coronavirus meeting restrictions, Bacchus Marsh Baptist gave prayerful consideration as to how church should look for them. While they were grateful for the many online worship services being made available from other churches, in Pastor Jeremy Van Langenberg’s words, “we were concerned to maintain a sense of ‘us’ –   our local church community”.  

They began by placing all church attendees including children, youth and young adults into cluster groups. For the first time ever, everyone in the church is in a small group! So far this is working well with groups meeting digitally or by phone.

Sunday sermons are pre-recorded online in a fairly simple fashion and for those without digital access, sermon notes and orders of service are hand delivered (with careful thought to hygiene). A weekly prayer guide is also being provided for the church to pray at the same time each Wednesday.

While church finances were initially struggling in the absence of physically meeting on Sundays, in recent days more church members than ever before have signed on to direct debit giving. While these last few weeks have been challenging and stretching, Jeremy reports the church community are encouraged, thankful and in good spirits.

Running Alpha Online is here to stay. In a matter of weeks, 190 online courses across the country have been registered with digital gatherings quickly becoming the norm. Whilst online Alpha has been explored in the past, the sudden surge in interest in Australia indicates that people are more than ready to adapt. “There is no going back. Alpha Online will remain an option even when we can meet in groups again,” says Philippa Fielding, Alpha Australia Church Relationship Lead.

For some churches, attendance in services has surged since going online. There is still speculation regarding the trend, but anecdotal evidence suggests that people are enjoying some anonymity in gathering online and the forum is logistically easier for many who may be experiencing illness, distance or a lack of transport options. There also seems to be a greater appetite in society for asking the big questions of faith and life and the forum is more welcoming of those who might be experiencing growing uncertainty or anxiety.

Giving support to observations, McCrindle has recently researched the emotional state of Australians. “The unfolding situation around COVID-19 is creating a sense of uncertainty among Australians. Two in five (39%) feel extremely or very uncertain … while another 52% feel somewhat or slightly uncertain. In this context of change and uncertainty Australians are feeling anxious (45%), frustrated (37%) and vulnerable (29%). There is still a sense of optimism, however, with more than a quarter (27%) feeling hopeful.” You can find the full McCrindle report here.

Google Trends indicates that questions such as ‘What is the point?’, ‘Why and I here?’ and ‘Is this it?’ have all been at their highest for the last 12 month period in March and April this year, potentially correlating with the declaration of the pandemic by the WHO.

Offering Alpha is a natural step for people who want to ask their questions in a safe environment. Surprisingly, “Alpha Online is proving to be an easier forum for some introverts,” says Philippa. Some don’t turn on their videos. They choose to maintain the conversation through audio only. For those churches who are now part way through their courses, it has become evident that there “doesn’t seem to be as much pressure online.” Alpha Online has also seen an increase in participation of people with transportation challenges and single parents, who ordinarily face the difficulty of finding care for children in order to be able to go out of an evening.

The personal invitation has also been made easier in the online setting. Inviting a friend has always been a central focus of Alpha. The physical distancing requirements and isolation have shifted our focus to broader connections. Some Alpha participants from a Victorian Baptist Church have invited their friends living in Iran and China to join an Australian-based Alpha. And other Australian courses are crossing state borders, with participants not constrained by geography. As our globalised world helps us to forge relationships not bound by borders, so Alpha Online is enabling those relationships to delve into these big questions together.

Many churches are running small Alpha gatherings on the Zoom platform using a paid account, which allows for break out rooms and longer meetings. However, others are choosing to use a free Zoom account, and having guests login together for 45 minutes after watching the Alpha Film Series independently through Vimeo. Some churches, confident in using the online platform, are hosting Alpha and including other church groups, who then breakout separately for discussion. A Victorian church, never having previously run Alpha, is offering Alpha every night of the week. Others are starting up new Alphas each week. The tradition of running Alpha once or twice per year consecutively no longer needs to be adhered to. Creativity and ‘giving it a go’ have been hallmarks of those who have leapt into the opportunity.   

These trends are not unique to Australia. All over the world Alpha has been utilised as a safe forum during this crisis. Holy Trinity Brompton, the home of Alpha in London, is currently running its biggest Alpha cohort in history. 1100 people are gathering weekly. It is also hosting 1500 couples in the online Marriage Course. “This is a good thing since some couples are under greater pressure in the crisis,” says Philippa.

The essential elements of Alpha are being reprioritised. Food together is not an option; the ‘Weekend Away’ is being handled differently by different groups as leaders share their stories and ideas with one another; but prayer ministry remains vitally important and is often being organised through breakout rooms with smaller gatherings of people. Training is offered for churches who are keen to learn how to make the most of Alpha Online. As people have been led in prayer in the training context, “there has been a sense of the Holy Spirit there with us online.” Prayer remains a priority throughout Alpha, with The Prayer Course online being recommended as a potential follow up course at the close of Alpha.

Whilst the online forum provides an insurmountable challenge for some to participate, for many, it is exactly what is needed at this time, and a gathering that many have been waiting for.

For more information and resources, go to the link below:

Courses:

Alpha                               https://www.alpha.org.au/
The Prayer Course:         https://prayercourse.org/
The Marriage Course:     http://www.marriageandparenting.org.au/tmc

Devotions recommended by the Alpha team                                     

Bible in One Year              https://www.bibleinoneyear.org/
Lectio 365:                        https://www.24-7prayer.com/dailydevotional
Bridgetown Podcast:         https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bridgetown-audio-podcast/id84246334

During this time of isolation and separation, it is wonderful to see so many of the churches of the City of Whitehorse join together to share this message of hope and promise to the entire community on Easter morning.

Eddie Chapman, Box Hill Baptist Church’s Administrator, said “Knowing that all of our churches would be worshipping 'alone' over Easter, kind of made me feel like it'd be good to send some positive messages across churches in the area – So even if we're worshipping alone, we would appreciate that there's many of us doing so 'together'”.

Thankfully just a couple of days after it was suggesting it to Rev Jim Barr, the Pastor at Box Hill Baptist Church, there was a Zoom meeting with many of the Pastors in the City of Whitehorse, facilitated through Whitehorse Churches Care.  Jim was able to ask the Pastors on the Zoom meeting to record their greetings around the virtual 'room'.  This was then edited, tidied up, and distributed it out to all those churches to include in their own services or share accordingly.

“We're pleased that it's been well received across the congregations involved.” said Eddie.

Whitehorse Churches Care is an inter-denominational group with the following churches as members:

Stairway Church Whitehorse, One Church, NewHope Baptist Church, Gardenia St. Presbyterian, Blackburn Box Hill Salvos, St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Korus Connect, Crossway, St Alfred's Blackburn North, St Luke’s Anglican Church, Vermont, Nunawading & Waverley Lutheran Church, FGA Melbourne.

Video Link: https://www.facebook.com/boxhillbc/videos/157998505512612/

Earlier on in the year, the BUV informed our church leadership about the ongoing hardships the local businesses in the East Gippsland region were experiencing, due to the devastating bushfires. Hearing about this truly broke our hearts, and we all felt we needed to help these communities out in a small way. So, a group of approximately 20 people from our congregation took the opportunity to travel to the East Gippsland region during the March long weekend (before the current COVID-19 restrictions came into place), visiting the local cafes, restaurants and accommodation sites to assist them financially.

Our first stop on Saturday was brunch in Bairnsdale where we split into two groups to ‘The Old Grain Store’ and ‘Metung Hotel’. There, we were advised that one of the towns hit hardest financially was a town called Bruthen. So we decided to visit this town. When we arrived there, some of us had lunch at 'Bull Ant Brewery' and some had afternoon tea at ‘Bruthen Bakery’. The staff there really appreciated our efforts to come down here to help them out in this time of need.

In the afternoon, we all checked into our motels at Lakes Entrance, splitting our accommodation arrangements over several different businesses. Our next stop was to go see the bushfire affected sites in the area. Although we were very saddened by witnessing the remains of many burnt down trees, the new sprouts emerging from the trees gave a sense of hope that the bushland will recover and be fruitful once again. Our last stop for the day was Lakes Pizza, where we had a delicious dinner.

On Sunday we started off by attending the Lake Entrance Baptist Church service. We were warmly welcomed by Pastor Michael & the church congregation. After the service we shared tea and coffee with leaders and members of the church. It was amazing to hear from one leader of the church that in the midst of all the damages and hardship caused by the bush fires, they are still praying and asking for God’s guidance to plant a church in Orbost, one of the bushfire affected areas. We are glad that we helped the church community by contributing our tithes and offerings.

After church we decided to go to Orbost to have lunch where once again we split in to two groups for two different cafes. We then visited another bushfire affected area in Orbost. It was devastating to see how the bushfires have affected the whole area and the environment.

After the visit to Orbost, we returned to Lakes Entrance. That evening, as a church family we all had a great time over dinner at “Nick’s Café and Authentic Thai Restaurant”. We stayed one more evening before heading home on Monday .Throughout the whole visit we were encouraged and amazed of the church’s faith in God and the spirit of rebuilding the bushfire affected areas again.

For many years Wodonga & District Baptist Church has been recording their sermons in both audio and video and making them available online. Since the COVID-19 meeting restrictions, Senior Pastor David Hodgens and team, like many other churches, have been pre-recording their worship services and the congregation is encouraged to watch at the usual service time on a Sunday. Small groups are meeting online and other expressions of contact include sms, email and phone calls during the week so that the church community remains connected to one another.

One concern has been for those who do not have internet access, particularly in relation to Sunday services. This is where the local Christian radio station comes in! Albury Wodonga’s own listener-supported Christian radio station, 98.5FM The Light, is now broadcasting Wodonga Baptist’s service each Sunday at 10.30am. “This is just one of the many stories where we have seen God’s hand at work. This is a hard time for everyone, however, we continue to be encouraged by the high level of engagement and the stories we hear on a regular basis. God has his plans. We may not know what they are, but we can see he is in control” said Church Administrator, Steve Stokes.

Paul Huglin has been the Senior Pastor at West Preston Baptist Church for the past nine months. He and his wife Apryl were attracted to the church as they knew it had a heart for its community. Paul has previously served at Diamond Valley Baptist as the Associate Pastor for many years, but most recently as a Community Pastor serving as Chaplain to the local Shopping Centre. Apryl works with Baptcare as Chaplain in the Sanctuary program supporting Asylum Seekers. Recently, and despite the Coronavirus restrictions, an opportunity to align the church and Sanctuary has emerged.

“Asylum seekers are the most vulnerable group of people in our community” says Apryl. “They are unable to work and therefore draw an income, but they also do not receive any subsidies from the government. Some of them have absolutely no income and somehow must support their families”.

With the food bank shortages that are currently being experienced, even this avenue of support has become scarce, however, West Preston Baptist has been able to open their own food bank and provide monthly cooked meals to residents of Houses of Hope/Sanctuary. Apryl has also sourced companies that have been willing to donate to this very needed charity. Wholesalers and restaurants are now giving, and another encouraging outcome of this initiative is how it has renewed the church’s connection with its local community. Members of the church are regularly volunteering to assist in this new and significant project.

For more information as to how your church may assist this most vulnerable group of people please contact:

sanctuary@baptcare.org.au

baptcare.org.au/sanctuary

Phone: 13 BAPTCARE (13 22 78)

Paul Huglin has been the Senior Pastor at West Preston Baptist Church for the past nine months. He and his wife Apryl were attracted to the church as they knew it had a heart for its community. Paul has previously served at Diamond Valley Baptist as the Associate Pastor for many years, but most recently as a Community Pastor serving as Chaplain to the local Shopping Centre. Apryl works with Baptcare as Chaplain in the Sanctuary program supporting Asylum Seekers. Recently, and despite the Coronavirus restrictions, an opportunity to align the church and Sanctuary has emerged.

“Asylum seekers are the most vulnerable group of people in our community” says Apryl. “They are unable to work and therefore draw an income, but they also do not receive any subsidies from the government. Some of them have absolutely no income and somehow must support their families”.

With the food bank shortages that are currently being experienced, even this avenue of support has become scarce, however, West Preston Baptist has been able to open their own food bank and provide monthly cooked meals to residents of Houses of Hope/Sanctuary. Apryl has also sourced companies that have been willing to donate to this very needed charity. Wholesalers and restaurants are now giving, and another encouraging outcome of this initiative is how it has renewed the church’s connection with its local community. Members of the church are regularly volunteering to assist in this new and significant project.

For more information as to how your church may assist this most vulnerable group of people please contact:

sanctuary@baptcare.org.au

baptcare.org.au/sanctuary

Phone: 13 BAPTCARE (13 22 78)

Fifteen years ago, God called our family out of Crossway Baptist into the spiritually dry northern suburbs of Melbourne. We had all sensed the call of God in various ways, including our three teenage children who gave up great schooling and friendships in order to plant ‘Crossway North Baptist Church’ in Craigieburn.

However, we fell in love with the North of Melbourne and its people. We saw God grow a healthy, vibrant, family orientated church in an area with hard spiritual soil. In what felt like the blink of an eye  and with a change of venue and name to ‘North Church’, in 2017 our Church plant celebrated its 10^th Anniversary.  After this milestone, Brett and I started to pray about what God would have next for us; either to continue with the Church we loved, or to move into a wider place in the North. We prayed and waited for further instructions. God was moving all the chess pieces behind the scenes and what unfolded over the next few years was a wonderful work of His Spirit and Olivine at Donnybrook has become part of a new story.

Hume Anglican Grammar Donnybrook commenced in Olivine as the first building on the estate and wonderfully our eldest daughter became the very first teacher employed there. Later in 2018, our second daughter applied and received the position of front desk receptionist and Assistant Principal’s P.A. at the new campus for 2019.

To add to the family connection, I was asked to be a casual Teacher’s Assistant to help with settling the students into Term 1 and also had the privilege of getting to know the staff and students on their very first day. It was exciting to be at the new campus, despite all the dust, dirt, and kangaroos. I found I did not want to leave when my time was finished, as the community had become like family.

I continued to discover school families and staff who were going to be living on the estate and this piqued my curiosity as to what God might be doing. At the same time my husband Brett commenced work full-time at the B.U.V. in the Mission Catalyst Team. I became challenged by God to resign as North Church Office Manager and trust Him for new things.

Within a couple of weeks, the chess pieces started coming together. Gayle Hill, Head of the BUV Mission Catalyst Team, approached me about a place-making position. She was seeking a candidate for Olivine Donnybrook and believed Brett and I would be a wonderful choice. This was timely and God-inspired as both Brett and I believed this was what God had been preparing us for. It would involve moving to the estate and living there as place-makers, loving, and committed to cultivating a flourishing community. As followers of Jesus and committed to the vision of the BUV to see both flourishing churches and flourishing communities this became my ‘ah ha’ moment!! With Brett’s role at the BUV, our partnership with Derek Bradshaw from Now and Not yet Cafe, a great relationship with the Mirvac developers and our families’ roles at Hume Anglican Grammar Donnybrook, it seemed as if everything was coming together.

So, what does this look like now for us? Brett and I are building a house at Olivine Donnybrook and will be moving there later this year. Olivine will be home to around 7,000 people. I will take on the role of ‘place-maker’ for the Estate and Brett will contribute with his skills, gifts, and passions and to also develop a community of faith. Mirvac are building a Café at the entrance to the Estate that will be run by the Now and Not Yet Café team, with a Café Manager also living in the Estate. Both these roles will sit under the Baptist Union of Victoria’s Grassroots Placemakers. There will be an adjoining Community Centre that I will be managing which is included as part of my community work. What does a pacemaker do? Our new tag line at Grassroots Place-makers is ‘Cultivating Flourishing Communities’. That is our role and our goal at Olivine, our community: Cultivating a physically, emotionally, mentally, socially and spiritually flourishing community!! We have a wonderful model in Aintree for this visionary work with Jonathan Ingram and his team. Please pray for us as we continue to see God leading and guiding us in this new endeavour.

Michelle Mitchell
Community Placemaker

The Baptist pastors who are out working in the Bushfire affected regions are amazing people.  Not only did they adjust their whole lives to take on assisting the local communities impacted by the bushfires, they have now had to swing back around to adjust their whole lives to keeping their own local congregations connected and inspired during the COVID-19 crisis. Amazing. Just when things were starting to show signs of life again the communities in these regions have taken another economic and social hit. Because of this, our role in staying involved and remaining connected into the future is even more critical.

Right from the moment the fires were threatening Corryong, Pastor Graeme van Brummelen was on the ground helping.  He and David Hodgens (Wodonga Baptist Church) played a significant role in running the evacuation centre. Immediately after the fires had cleared, Graeme was out gathering information from locals on what the immediate needs were.  Recognising the need that many had for some basic items, combined with the need the local shops had for business, getting a local voucher system up and running was a great start and this has been continuing through to this time.

Just before the COVID-19 lockdowns occurred, I took Chris Piper (our Bushfire Recovery Advisor) for a visit (as we also did to Gippsland, reported previously) and we spent a couple of days with Graeme.  The attached video highlights some of the activity from that trip but also talks about the long-term needs that are part of the recovery process.

We were privileged to visit some of those who had been affected – some didn’t mind being photographed or named, but for most the pain was still too raw to even ask.  However, what was abundantly clear was how much Graeme was being appreciated in the community.  His ability to connect as a pastor but also as a local (Graeme himself lost property and livestock as a result of the fires) has allowed people to feel safe talking to him about their pain and loss, but also about various options on how to take any next steps toward recovery.

We visited two couples who had each lost two houses. One of these couples had subsequently spent a couple of months living in a tent inside a shed that had been saved. Both couples (as well as others we met) spoke about how much they had appreciated engaging with Graeme and how important it was to have someone to talk to during this time. It was amazing to me how long we were at each place.  People obviously just wanted to be able to talk to those they knew would care.  Pictured here is one couple with Graeme as he hands them a Voucher Package.

All this activity has been made possible by the generosity of the Baptist Family in Victoria. In addition to the Voucher Packages, Graeme has been talking with local farmers about their current needs and the overwhelming response has been for assistance in buying seed (and some fodder) at this critical seasonal moment.  The fires not only burnt off all the grass but then the heavy rains that followed washed away a lot of the top soil (see the video). In this district, these funds have played a vital role in helping farmers with the next season in their farming calendar, without which would have undoubtedly led to ongoing losses as a result of the fires. There are of course numerous Scriptural references to planting seed and Graeme himself feels that this is significant at this time. Many of those who have received this gift share with him about what it has meant to receive it, but also many share about his personal support is playing such a significant role during this time.

Once again, Baptist Family, thanks for your support. Wherever Graeme gets a chance to talk he makes it clear that it is you who have made this support possible. Please continue to pray for Graeme and the other pastors in Gippsland (Michael Carlisle, Geoff Pegler, as well as all those working hard with them) who are not only working at continuing this great work, but also working at dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks again for all your support. God bless.

Peace and Hope in these times,

Andrew Naylor
BUV Partnership Development Pastor