Our Stories

Will Florance, Bushfire Pastoral Carer based in Orbost, East Gippsland,  gives an update on his role.  “I found myself with a mandate:  To find fire affected people, find out from them what they need and do my best to meet that need.  It’s fairly simple in words, unfortunately less so in action.  So if you asked me what I’ve achieved,  I could give many answers but I think the best answer is simply, I have been there when people needed me,  and Lord willing, by the generosity of the Baptist family, I’ll continue to be.”

Well, here we are Victorians. Isolation number 2 that we thought we were handling well and now find ourselves with another 6 weeks with even further restrictions.

As the initial COVID restrictions came into force earlier in the year, the team at Wodonga and District Baptist Church talked about how they could practically move forward. Sensing back then, what we know to be true now, David was mindful that there might be a second wave of the virus, which could return them to a constrained environment, and so the church looked for a model of gathering that would sustain them for as long as needed. So began Wodonga’s network of neighbourhood churches.

Pakenham’s Follow Bless Collective has received $5000 from the council to continue to support Cardinia residents who are struggling financially and have been affected by the coronavirus.

At a time when most see ‘unprecedented’ obstacles, Mornington Peninsula Mayor Sam Hearn sees opportunity. With COVID-19 lockdowns forcing the closure of many Community Support Centres, Sam (who is also involved in the leadership of his neighbourhood Baptist church community) dreamed up the ‘People’s Army’: redeploying stood down local council staff to deliver care packages to vulnerable and isolated people in the area. The idea came to him after seeing community members share on Facebook how they were reaching out to their neighbours.

On Monday March 16th, the leadership at Bendigo Baptist decided to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic by moving all of its weekend services into one livestream. Like many other churches that have made this move, it didn’t stop us from BEING the church – it just changed that way in which we would GATHER as the church here in Bendigo.

Rev Alison Sampson talks with us about her journey into leadership and the continual journey to be true to your call while loving God and people, keeping your eyes on Jesus and following the Holy Spirit’s leading. Alison is the Pastor at Sanctuary, Warrnambool.

Ignite is the BUV’s Multicultural Youth & Young Adults Conference. Like most events this year, we’ve had to adapt and bring things online! Though our Ignite crew couldn’t meet in person, we were still keen to gather online to encourage each other in our journey with Jesus.

Interview 1: Short video of Rev Dr Bill Brown interviewing Rev Dr Allan Demond, Senior Baptist at NewHope Baptist Church, on aspects of a flourishing church and what that means in a pandemic season.