This Lent, Common Grace and Bible Society Australia invite us to rediscover Jesus's profound teachings veiled in everyday stories. As we come together, we're praying for ears to hear these teachings of Jesus afresh, to let them get past our defences and under our skin, as they transform us to make things right in this world.
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This series has been produced by Common Grace and Bible Society Australia.
One example of a “better together” story is happening in the outer east of Melbourne with Kilsyth South, Wandin and Ferntree Gully Baptist churches. Pre- COVID-19, the pastors of each of these churches would meet regularly and on occasion, Kilsyth South provides preaching and musician support to Wandin.
When the social distancing measures came in so quickly late March, Kilsyth South was fortunate in being able to create an online platform soon after the restrictions were announced. The other two churches were not in the same position at that time, and so Peter Nielsen, Senior Pastor of Kilsyth South invited both churches to join them online.
In addition to these churches connecting with Kilsyth South, Peter is aware of others connecting to their online services from around the world. He shares this encouraging story:
“We had a Japanese young lady come to faith late last year after befriending one of our church regulars. He brought her to church, she asked to see me and gave her life to Jesus. Her fears about going back to Japan and to a Buddhist family were very real, so before she left in early February, she was baptized in a small service at the church where we were able to pray for her and commit her to Jesus. She went back to Japan, and less than a month later we were live streaming – she has logged on each week to watch and worship with us and each week she sends a photo of her watching the service and letting us know how she is going in her faith! God has blessed her immensely – and we are being blessed through her and her faith that has gone back to her homeland!”
Check out this article from the local paper on Hamilton Baptist’s Interim Pastor Bob Fergie and this great community engagement initiative.
Last Sunday, almost 20 Baptist Churches in Victoria live-streamed their services. A month ago, there was very few. The last four weeks have brought with them progressively tighter government restrictions on gatherings all across Australia. These have presented a gargantuan challenge to the church, which intuitively recognises the deep need we all have to "not give up on meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25). With social gatherings now limited to two, and physical distancing in place, all traditional ways of thinking about community and communal worship need to be radically changed. In this challenge, leaders have been extended and have needed to work well outside their natural abilities in order to achieve the great feat of gathering online.
And, as with all healthy families, the lessons are being shared, and support is being offered between churches. Essendon Baptist has graciously written a blog post of their journey from ‘zero to go’ with the lessons in their steep learning curve. Their hope is that it will provide practical information and encourage others who are hoping to launch online with little lead time. The family is in this together, and growing together. Several church leaders from around Victoria have offered us their reflections on this sudden swerve into digitalisation.
Mark Nidenko, Associate Pastor of Heathmont Baptist Church, comments on the explosion of changes in the last two weeks: “We have been greatly encouraged by the grace our congregation has shown us as we have worked out our response. We are enjoying the challenge of integrating a mix of technologies into our services and exploring the way that they allow us to run programs we thought would need to close (eg. Playgroup). We have been streaming our services and youth groups over YouTube and using zoom for our lifegroups and as our welcome cafe.”
Many pastors in the last two weeks have expanded their everyday vernacular to include "Youtube Channel, Facebook Live, Teleprompter, live-stream, Google Meet, Vimeo, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Zoom …” They have learned the varying capacities and the pros and cons for each offering for their own setting, and are now seeing their faces on those platforms. Grace Munro can attest to the weight of this work for church leadership: "Pastor Jun Tan at Balwyn Baptist has been VERY busy making the adjustment to online services, and we are definitely getting there, and it is good to get together even while not being together.”
In some churches, this new challenge has brought with it surprises and latent abilities. Kathryn Vaughan, Co-ordinator of Pastoral Administration at Camberwell Baptist Church says, “At the beginning, when it was hard to imagine how we could possibly transition our service online in a week, a few people surfaced unexpectedly from within our congregation with the willingness and the gifts to enable this to happen.”
Pastor Aaron Wardle of Wangaratta Baptist is fortunate to learn quickly with software. Even so, he admits, “It has taken a bit of effort to get it all set up!” In Wangaratta Baptists’ first stream, they used both Facebook Live and Youtube, wanting to achieve maximum reach. The online.church platform was utilised where those gathering can chat, share a heart, and share a live prayer request with the service hosts. Camberwell Baptist has chosen to use Zoom, which helps the congregation to connect with one another via text and allows people see each other on screen.
Each church is approaching the challenge differently, bringing their unique culture to their gathered worship, and choosing the technical options that will serve their church and its surrounding community. Pastor Adam Hince of Essendon Baptist summarises perfectly, "I don't think anyone at Essendon is pretending this is church as we'd really like it – but we are making it work, and doing our best to connect with each other and not just with the screen while we do so. We're also doing our best to keep it like our normal church services – so it's not as polished as others, but it is ours.”
Our Churches in the Union have responded with agility and creativity to the COVID-19 crisis as it has unfolded into a pandemic. We have brought the good news in the midst of the vulnerability of the human condition, and sought to bring us into contact with one another under extraordinary circumstances.
Let us continue to show unprecedented love through these unprecedented times.
If your church needs support in your work to meet online, please head to our COVID-19 Church Resources and COVID-19 Advice Page. Both are being updated regularly to help you understand how to navigate the new challenges and gather your church online. Crossover is also providing practical help to churches entering the online space. You can check out their resources here.
Thank you to the teams at Balwyn, Camberwell, Essendon, Heathmont and Wangaratta Baptist Churches for sharing their insights in moving church services online.
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
In 2016 we celebrated and acknowledged the service of Cath Solomon to the Indigenous people of Gippsland and her work over many years with the Baptist Union of Victoria.
A service of recognition and thanks was held at Lakes Entrance Baptist Church with family and friends from the Gippsland area and beyond attending to Acknowledge ‘Aunty Cath’s’ faithful and fruitful service.