Our Story

The first Baptists in South Australia arrived in February 1837. Many early Baptists came hoping to share the gospel with indigenous peoples and with humanitarian sentiments not necessarily shared by others in the new colony, but unfortunately, they also came with the sense of cultural superiority by which colonisation was justified. In 2000, South Australian Baptists offered a formal apology to Indigenous Australians, noting that, “By misunderstanding your culture and imposing our ways on you, we have caused you much pain and loss.” 

The new colony had been motivated by the desire for “religious and social betterment” and was known as a “Paradise of Dissent” where there was no established church or state financial support for religion. Baptist leaders like George Fife Angas, David McLaren, and Henry Waymouth were key figures in the South Australian Company. McLaren was the first lay minister of the church on Rundle Street and conducted the first baptisms in the River Torrens in 1840. 

Over the next twenty years, rural churches were formed in places like Gumeracha, Angaston, Clarendon, South Rhine and Salt Creek, Eden Valley, Coromandel Valley, Tea Tree Gully, Lyndoch, Morphett Vale, Hackham, Aldinga, Port Lincoln, and Mount Gambier, with suburban churches including Bowden-on-the-Hill, Magill, Mitcham, and Alberton. 

In 1861, Rev Silas Mead arrived from England to pastor the Baptist chapels in Adelaide and North Adelaide. He led the building of the church on Flinders Street and was instrumental in founding both the South Australian Baptist Association (now BCSANT) and the Baptist Missionary Society (now BMA).  The next fifty years was a time of significant growth, with evangelistic and social campaigns and church planting across the city (including Norwood, Goodwood, Semaphore, Parkside, Glen Osmond, Knightsbridge, Grange, Richmond, Unley Park, Edwardstown, Lockleys, Brighton, Seacliff), in the hills (Mount Barker, Birdwood, Norton Summit), and the regions (Moonta, Gawler, Tarlee, Peterborough, Jamestown, Clare, Port Augusta, Laura, Orroroo, Port Pirie). The first Australian Baptist cross-cultural missionaries were sent from Adelaide to then East Bengal in 1882, leading to the Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship, which has since planted over 500 churches. 

The Adelaide Baptist Theological College was formed in 1869, which then joined with the Congregational and Presbyterians to become Union College. When the College was offered a significant endowment, the council decided this should be used for a larger public purpose and gifted it instead for the formation of Adelaide University. The Baptist College re-opened in 1891 for the training and equipping of pastors and missionaries. 

The West End Mission and Church (now Baptist Care SA and Westcare) was established in 1913 as a missional response to growing social needs. By 1918, the association had 80 member churches and an additional 29 preaching stations. The years of the World Wars and the Great Depression saw some loss of momentum for the movement, with some questions around what it meant to be Baptist and reactions to different theological views, as well as facing the social and financial challenges of the era. New churches continued to be planted, however, including West Croydon, Underdale, Colonel Light Gardens, and Broadview. 

A boys’ school, King’s College was established in 1923 jointly with the Congregational Churches, and the Morialta Protestant Children’s Homes in 1924 in partnership with a number of other denominations. A Federation of state Baptist Unions (now Australian Baptist Ministries) commenced in 1926, with SA’s enthusiastic endorsement. 

Renewed optimism came post-World War II, including an emphasis on Sunday Schools, Christian Endeavour and youth groups. Baptist Churches were significantly involved in the Billy Graham Crusades in 1959, with nearly half the population of Adelaide attending a rally, and many people coming to faith in Jesus and joining our churches. Kings Baptist Grammar School was founded in 1983 by Tea Tree Gully Baptist Church, and today has campuses at Wynn Vale and Mount Barker. 

From the 1970s on, the movement has increased in cultural diversity due to various waves of immigration including Slavic, Greek, Romanian, Vietnamese, and Filipino. Since 2005, we have welcomed eight member churches from Burmese communities, and our congregations across the movement hold gatherings in at least 12 different languages. In 2015, the Aboriginal Berean Community Church, with courage and grace, chose to join as a member church, and we continue to learn from them as we all walk together towards the reconciliation of all things.