Baptist Union of Australia

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Baptist Union of Australia
First Church: 1835
President: Rev Dr Ross Clifford
Website: http://www.baptist.org.au/
International: Baptist World Alliance

The Baptist Union of Australia (BUA) is the oldest and largest national cooperative body of Baptists in Australia. Its current National President is Reverend Dr Ross Clifford.

The Baptist work in Australia began in Sydney 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 in 1832. It was not until 1835 that the first church was established in Hobart Town by Henry Dowling, a strict Calvinist. John Saunders, sent by the Baptist Missionary Society of England, formed a church in 1836. The first state Union was formed in Victoria 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 Asian Baptist Federation and the Baptist World Alliance. Ministry arms of the BUA include the Australian Baptist Missionary Society, Australian Baptist World Aid, Aboriginal and Islander Baptist Council of Australia, Crossover Australia, New Settlers' Baptist Association, and Northreach. The National Baptist is published as a quarterly promotional magazine. The national work is divided among seven state unions, which operate independently, with the national body functioning as an advisory council. In 2007, the Union comprised 61,409 members in 868 churches.[1] The National Church Life Survey in 2001 estimated weekly attendance of Baptist Churches in Australia at 112,200.[2]

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Baptists

Historical Background
Christianity · General Baptist · Particular Baptist

Doctrinal distinctives
Prima and Sola scriptura · Ordinance · Offices · Confessions · Congregationalism · Separation of church and state

Pivotal figures
John Bunyan · Andrew Fuller · Thomas Helwys · John Smyth · Charles Haddon Spurgeon · Roger Williams

Largest associations
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[edit] External links

[edit] Australian Baptists Not Connected With the BUA

[edit] References

  1. ^ Our Statistics. The Baptist Union of Australia. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  2. ^ Denominational Weekly Attendance. NCLS Research. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  • Baptists Around the World, by Albert W. Wardin, Jr.