Assembly of change

Members of Baptist churches and pastors are warmly invited to attend our Annual Assembly on October 18, which will be held at Perth Baptist Church for the first time in many years.

One of the distinctive features of Baptist life is that leadership rests with the local congregation rather than with a pastor or bishop.

At the same time, we recognise that many things are best achieved when churches work together. It was for this reason that the Baptist churches of Tasmania formed a Union in 1883 and appointed leaders to help coordinate our shared mission.

Now, 142 years later, the Baptist Union has asked Matt Garvin to take on that coordinating role as successor to Stephen Baxter.

We are delighted that Mark Wilson, National Director of Australian Baptist Ministries, will join us to participate in Matt’s induction and share updates on national and international developments. We will also be joined by Scott Pilgrim, National Director of Baptist Mission Australia, who will be with us for the day.

The induction service will take place after lunch (from 1:30 to 2:15 pm) to allow visitors who wish to attend only that portion of the program to do so.

Before lunch, from 11:45 am to 12:35 pm, we will also share exciting updates from churches around the state and honour the significant contributions of Maddy Svoboda and Laurie Rowston to our movement.

Every Baptist church has a set number of delegates who are eligible to vote at any Assembly. Pastors are also automatically eligible to vote. Visitors, in addition to official delegates, are always welcome.