Redeemer Baptist Church
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Redeemer Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Sydney, Australia.
Redeemer Baptist Church held its first worship service in the lounge room of one of the church elders on Good Friday, 1974. Baulkham Hills Shire Council then provided Council community facilities for Sunday worship services from 1974 until 2011. Sunday services are now held at Redeemer Baptist School in Sargood Hall each Sunday at 10am. Most of those who originally formed Redeemer Baptist Church had been members of Castle Hill Baptist Church in Sydney, Australia. Since its formation, members have joined the church community from different denominational backgrounds. Redeemer has been an intentional suburban Christian community since its inception in Castle Hill from 1974 to 2003, and then in Oatlands / North Parramatta since 2003.
History
Redeemer Baptist Church was born in 1974 during the charismatic renewal sweeping across Australian churches at that time. A number of churches formed themselves into communities with a commitment to serve Jesus Christ. There were reports of miraculous answers to prayers. Many spoke of responding to the love of God more fully than a formal church structure could accommodate. At Redeemer, members of the church formed an intentional suburban Christian community which allowed members to continually serve Christ and neighbors in daily life.
The lifestyle of Redeemer Baptist Church — and the willingness of Church members to help strangers in need — provided a shelter for some who had been affected by the rise of the drug problem in the sixties, coupled with a significant increase in the rate of family breakdown in the early seventies. Young adults, saddened by the consequences of wrong and impulsive choices, were in the grip of hopelessness. In different ways, people started to find out that Redeemer Baptist Church was a group of people who were willing to help in times of crisis. Some families were encouraged to put their children into the care of church families, if they had been identified as a "problem child". The Church was a safe place for young adults to grow into the responsibilities of freedom. They attempted to provide a place of healing for those with physical, emotional and relational difficulties. Community members were not trained experts offering professional help, but they spoke of God's love for the world and they stepped out in faith. They trusted God to give the resources needed to help those in need who were sent by friends, family or the NSW Government’s Department of Community Services.
Realising the demands of this outreach on a relatively new church, church members realised that many things would be easier if they started to move closer together. Members of the church began to purchase approximately twenty five adjoining homes in the vicinity of the Castle Hill shopping centre (in suburban Sydney, NSW, Australia). Most of those attending Redeemer Baptist Church services became members of a Protestant religious order known as the Ministry Order of Redeemer Baptist Church. Each member of the Ministry Order individually articulates their response to Jesus Christ's call to them to serve Jesus in this Christian community. As younger members of the church begin to mature, they are encouraged to look upon the Church as GOd's call upon their lives, and most then join the Ministry Order. Members of the community meet together regularly for prayer and worship, and they support each other in times of hardship. There is mutual encouragement to live according to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Living in close proximity, members could easily meet to plan or work together on various ministries or projects that the Church was involved in from time to time.
After thirty years in Christian community together in Castle Hill, in 2001 all the members of the Ministry Order signed a document affirming their commitment, obligation and lifestyle as disciples of Jesus Christ. This was the first time that the Ministry Order was set out as a document, prior to this ceremony, it had been merely a mutual understanding between members, and the Elders of the Church, led by Noel Cannon. This occasion, and subsequent occasions when new members are welcomed into the Ministry Order, are approached with much prayer and celebrated with much joy. The document sets out a basic guideline of beliefs, and an agreement to follow the direction of other members of the Church. It also holds a clause stating that if a member chooses to leave, they will be allowed to do so "with Christian charity".
In 1981, as a natural progression of the Church's work with young people, Redeemer established Redeemer Baptist School. The school started in the St David’s Presbyterian Church on Pennant Hills Road in Thornleigh. The School moved into the old Burnside Homes in North Parramatta in 1983. Redeemer Baptist School grew to occupy, under lease, all of the Burnside Homes along the northern side of Pennant Hills Road between James Ruse Drive and Masons Drive.
In 1994, Redeemer Baptist Church was given the opportunity to consider purchasing the leased Burnside buildings. The purchase price was $11,750,000. This was not a simple undertaking for a relatively small, independent Church congregation. In March 1995, the community met one Saturday morning in Sargood Hall at Redeemer Baptist School to see whether it was possible to buy the Burnside site. At that meeting many members stood up to share how their lives had been revolutionised by God during the time together as a Church. All spoke of the need for the Burnside site as a School campus where the Church community could continue to share life and hope with successive generations of young people. On that morning everyone concluded to sell their homes in Castle Hill as a development package and move the Church community into the vicinity of the School in North Parramatta. All who agreed on that course of action in 1995 helped to relocate the Church community in 2003 into the Burnside Gardens area, a small residential estate near the North Parramatta campus of Redeemer Baptist School.
In 2004, a large number of members decided to leave the church due to differenes with the leadership. This led to a great deal of media coverage, and many years of legal battles as the Church attempted to prosecute the media corporations for defamation and bad publicity. Some of the former members also attempted to prosecute the Church in the Industrial Relations Courts, which led to even more legal complications. The NSW Legislative Council also became involved, with Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile speaking in support of the Church, whilst Greens Senator John Kaye spoke in support of ex-members. All cases were eventually settled and closed, and the Church has not been the subject of negative media since then. It has enjoyed a great deal of positive media due to the achievements of students at Redeemer Baptist School, who have excelled in academics, athletics, and community outreach.
The ministries of the Redeemer Baptist Church community are varied, including: ministry to school-aged children through Redeemer Baptist School; publishing a small range of theological texts and popular study guides through Redeemer Baptist Press; worship leadership alongside other Churches and at various Christian gatherings throughout Australia through Redeemer's Music Ministry; sharing hope and love with others in need through extended family households in Christian community; providing for physical and spiritual needs of indigenous communities both in Australia and PNG, including more than thirty years of support for the PNG Bible Translation Association.
The Redeemer Baptist School named their library the N F Cannon Library in tribute to the founding principal and Church leader in August 2011.[1]
Noel Cannon died on 25 February 2012 with tribute being paid to Cannon in NSW Parliament.[2][3]
References
- ↑ School Opens Library http://www.hillsnews.com.au/news/local/news/general/redeemer-baptist-school-opens-new-library/2266278.aspx
- ↑ "Noel CANNON Obituary: View Noel CANNON's Obituary by The Sydney Morning Herald". Tributes.smh.com.au. 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
- ↑ TRIBUTE TO PASTOR NOEL CANNON http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20120522013