Baptist Union of Australia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

style="font-size: larger;" | **Baptist Union of Australia**

First Church:	1835
President:	Rev Dr John Beasy
Website:	http://www.baptist.org.au/
International:	Baptist World Alliance Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance is a worldwide alliance of Baptist churches and organizations, formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London during the first Baptist World Congress.-History:...

The Baptist Union of Australia (BUA) is the oldest and largest national cooperative body of Baptists in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Its current National President is Reverend Dr John Beasy. The BUA is now known as Australian Baptist Ministries - ABM

The Baptist work in Australia began in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

in 1831, over forty years after the British penal colony was established. The first preacher was John McKaeg. The first baptism was in Woolloomooloo Bay

Woolloomooloo, New South Wales

Woolloomooloo is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is located 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb is located in a low-lying, former...

in 1832. It was not until 1835 that the first church was established in Hobart Town

Hobart

Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

by Henry Dowling, a strict Calvinist. John Saunders, sent by the Baptist Missionary Society

Baptist Missionary Society

rightBMS World Mission is a Christian missionary society founded by Baptists from England in 1792. It was originally called the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen, but for most of its life was known as the Baptist Missionary Society...

of England, formed a church in 1836. The first state Union was formed in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

in 1862. The national Baptist Union was founded in 1926 by representatives from existing state unions.

The Baptist Union of Australia is a member of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation

Asia Pacific Baptist Federation

The Asia Pacific Baptist Federation is a regional organization of the Baptist World Alliance, a worldwide fellowship of churches that subscribe to Baptist distinctives. The APBF was formed in the then British colony of Hong Kong in 1973 as the Asian Baptist Federation...

(formerly Asian Baptist Federation) and the Baptist World Alliance

Baptist World Alliance

The Baptist World Alliance is a worldwide alliance of Baptist churches and organizations, formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London during the first Baptist World Congress.-History:...

. Ministry arms of the BUA include the Global Interaction (formerly known as the Australian Baptist Missionary Society), Australian Baptist World Aid, Baptist Care, and a number of Delegated Bodies which represent communities of practice, developing strategies and resources that benefit the Australian Baptist movement. These include: Crossover Australia, and Crossover Remote (formerly Northreach) The national work is divided among seven state unions, which operate independently, with the national body functioning as a governance council to facilitate collaborative ministries and mission initiative across the Baptist movement in Australia. In 2007, the Union comprised 61,409 members in 868 churches. The National Church Life Survey

National Church Life Survey

Australian National Church Life Surveys have been performed every 5 years from 1991 to 2001, to study Church Life in Australia. The NCLS Research partnership administers these surveys...

in 2001 estimated weekly attendance of Baptist Churches in Australia at 112,200.

External links

Baptist Union of Australia - official Web Site
Baptists in Australia - a short history of Baptists in Australia
Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT - link to the Baptist churches of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
Queensland Baptists - link to the Baptist churches of Queensland
Baptist Union Of Victoria - link to the Baptist churches of Victoria
Baptist Churches of South Australia - link to the Baptist churches of South Australia
Baptist Churches of Tasmania - link to the Baptist churches of Tasmania
Baptist Churches of Western Australia - link to the Baptist churches of Western Australia
- Baptist World Aid Australia

Australian Baptists Not Connected With the BUA

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