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.”

1^st 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!