Our Stories

Oakleigh Baptist Church has been on a journey with Empowered Faith Communities (EFC) since early 2023, and we are seeing a fruitful impact on our church and local community.

Coming out of two years of lockdowns, we were faced with the reality that the landscape had changed – both inside and outside the church. Initially we focussed on understanding and uniting our church community; now vastly different to that which we had been two years prior.

A five-year renovation project to provide an open, welcoming place for community members to visit has been completed at Daylesford Community Church (DCC). The backyard, built with assistance from a BUV and Baptcare community engagement grant, was the final part of the upgrade and is now completed, and the popular pop-up café is also set to reopen soon.

A thought-provoking exhibition at West Preston Baptist Church (WPBC) titled, Stations of the Cross, immersed visitors in a reflective visual journey through Christ’s death and resurrection with support from a BUV and Baptcare community grant.
Around 160 people visited over four days leading up to Good Friday to view the artworks created by WPBC members.

Nourish is a day for pastors and spouses from Victorian Churches to receive input, connection and fellowship.

May Nourish was an uplifting time of connection and encouragement for pastors from around the state seeking to support each other and reflect on how God is at work in our midst. Our hardworking BUV pastors received an uplifting message with the themes of restoration and resilience.

The pitter patter of little feet has been directed towards Port Campbell Baptist Church (PCBC) as several families recently started attending, which triggered the need for a new Sunday School and youth group.

Easter was an exciting time for the whole of Werribee Baptist Church, with the church hosting the Wyndham Combined Churches Good Friday services with around 1500 attendees across 2 services.