ABOUT US
It can be tricky trying to describe a church. I mean theoretically, we should all be doing the same thing right? Well, we thought about it and tried to break everything down to the core things we, as a church, should do. Here’s what we came up with.
Our Vision:
All Things New
In the final pages of the Bible there’s this picture of God calling people out from a city called Babylon which represents the greed, corruption and brokenness of our world, into a new city, Jerusalem.
This new city is marked by peace, hope and love. Here, God makes a promise saying, “Behold, I am making all things new!” that promise is still at work today, here and now.
We are a community of people committed to following Jesus as He makes All Things New; People and Places renewed by the power of Jesus.
Our Key Practices:
To see the vision become a reality our church has four core practices.
Worship
Its about Jesus, not us. It’s His story that has changed us so profoundly, so we are not primarily a social club, or service provider, but a community offering our lives back to God; so prayer, scripture and service are core to our life together.
Discipleship
Every Christian journey starts with Jesus saying to us “Follow Me.” In a world that easily defines success by superficial results, we are working to create spaces of deep formation and character development so that we become more like Jesus from the inside out.
Mission
God is not sitting passively in heaven but is currently at work in the world, humbling the proud and exalting the lowly. We want to be where Jesus is, so we are finding spaces to engage in humble service of our local and global neighbours.
Community
In an increasingly individualistic world, its easy for faith to become a personal venture for spiritual consumers. God has always called us into a family because we need each other. So we prioritise relationships, creating local communities where people can be known and follow Jesus together.
Our Values:
At GSB, these are the values we strive to live out:
Exiles in a culture of Comfort
We come alive when we pick up our cross
Peace in a culture of Hurry
Learning to live at the pace of Jesus
Diversity in a culture of Polarisation
We don’t all think or vote the same, and we love it
Vulnerability in a culture of Performance
His Power is made perfect in our weakness
Celebration in a culture of Anxiety
We can have fun cause we know how the story ends
Our Leadership:
Membership
As a Baptist Church we are congregationally governed. This means that members gather at various times throughout the year to discern the direction of the church, elect elders, approve budgets and a variety of other things.
Eldership
Our members annually elect elders who provide focused leadership throughout the year. They are responsible for making sure the church stays focused on the vision, provide financial oversight and accountability and support for the lead pastor and pastoral staff.
Staff
Colin leads the staff team who oversee the different ministries and organisational elements of the church. Their goals is not to do all the work, but to support our church members who serve on a variety of ministry teams.
