upward | inward| outward | forward

About Clayfield Baptist Church
About Clayfield Baptist Church

Introduction

Clayfield Baptist Church is a small community-based church in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. We are bible believing community who follow the Lord in a sincere way, to reach our community with faith, hope, and love. We are Part of the Qld Baptist churches of Qld, and have been ministering in this community since 1838. We have maintained a ongoing church in this area, by remaining relevant, with a strong emphasis on the preaching and teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Multi-Generational

One thing we are blessed with is being a multi-generational church. We have church members from 2 years old to… well it would be rude to say the age of our eldest member… But lets say she has many years of experience. This is great advantage because there is a real advantage to discipleship when we have people of various generations helping one another.

Multi-Cultural

Another area of true blessing is being involved in a multi-cultural church, even though we are only a small church, we do have about 15 different cultures within our church. This is advantage to help us also in our discipleship, as it encourages us to consider Gods word and teach beyond our own cultural experiences and traditions, and helps us to have eternal focus to the teachings in within the scriptures.


Kingdom Focused

As a kingdom focused church that chooses to be advancing forward for the kingdom, we have entered to a unique relationship and collaboration with two other independent Christian churches, each representing different denominations, yet united in purpose to glorify God. While each church celebrate in their own distinct styles and approaches to worship, we each firmly believe that Jesus Christ is the heart of everything we do.

In a spirit of unity, we not only share our premises with the two other Christian churches, but also our ministries. This includes a combined Young Adult Ministry, Youth Ministry, Men’s Ministry, and more.

“For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body
—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—
and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
1 Cor 12:4-6

A Healthy Church

We aim to be a healthy growing Church, encapsulated in four distinct areas, summarised by Jesus’s Great Commandments and Commission

Love God
Our aim is not just to have a knowledge of God, but to actually know God personally. (Upward)
Mat 22:36-38

Love People
Our aim is to seek to support and encourage each other with true friendship and love. (Inward)
Mat 22:39

Tell the World
Our aim is to tell the world about the Good News of Jesus Christ and to help people to get to know Him. (Outward)
Mat 28:19

Be a disciple of Christ
Our aim is to allow God to shape us and mold us in a life’s journey of surrendering to his will. (Forward)
Mat 28:20

Our Purpose

And to enjoy and glorify God by keeping Jesus at the centre of all we do, being guided by God’s word and the Holy Spirit

Pastor David Champness

Pastor David Champness has a real passion for serving God. His desire is to see everyone develop a deep relationship with God – a relationship based on God’s Word and a personal experience of God in their lives.

David was first called to ministry in 2001 to attend theological college. He has since ministered at Kenmore Baptist Church, Moore Park Baptist Church (Indooroopilly) and now here at Clayfield Baptist Church.

David is supported in ministry by his wife Kerry and their two children Jesse and Mikayla. The Champness family love to help other families through the struggles of life, to show God’s love in word and in deed.

A Relational Church

We are a church that places focus on relationships over “programs”. We may not always have the “best” programs as our focus is on some of the best relationships.

Our History

First Brisbane Church

A controversial Presbyterian minister and Member of Parliament, Dr. John Dunmore Lange in the newly established colony of New South Wales, not finding missionaries to evangelise the aborigines in Moreton Bay, arrived back to Great Britain in 1837. It was the right of every man regardless of race, colour or creed to hear the gospel. Not met with enthusiasm, he found the Gossner Missionary Training School in Berlin which had the two-fold emphasis of evangelical faith with strong missionary outlook. Ten lay men and families took the arduous voyage via Scotland to Sydney, then to the shores of the fledgling Moreton Bay colony in March 1838. These were the first free white settlers of Moreton Bay, and the first evangelists of the Christian faith.

Our Beliefs…

Mission to The Great South Land
Mission to The Great South Land

A controversial Presbyterian minister and Member of Parliament, Dr. John Dunmore Lange in the newly established colony of New South Wales, not finding missionaries to evangelise the aborigines in Moreton Bay, arrived back to Great Britain in 1837. It was the right of every man regardless of race, colour or creed to hear the gospel. Not met with enthusiasm, he found the Gossner Missionary Training School in Berlin which had the two-fold emphasis of evangelical faith with strong missionary outlook. Ten lay men and families took the arduous voyage via Scotland to Sydney, then to the shores of the fledgling Moreton Bay colony in March 1838. These were the first free white settlers of Moreton Bay, and the first evangelists of the Christian faith.

“Let the heavens, the earth, the waters with all their creatures and all those here present witness that I, Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros … in the name of Jesus Christ … hoist this emblem of the Holy Cross on which His (Jesus Christ’s) person was crucified and whereon He gave His life for the ransom and remedy of all the human race…on this Day of Pentecost, 14 May 1606 … I, take possession of all this part of the South as far as the pole in the name of Jesus…Which from now on shall be called the Southern land of the Holy Ghost…and this always and forever…and to the end that to all natives, in all the said lands, the holy and sacred evangel may be preached zealously and openly.”
From Pedro Fernandez de Quiros’ declaration, made on Espiritu Santo on 14th May, 1606.
Church Growth & Activities
Church Growth & Activities

Church Model & Overview

Our adoption of the Multiple Small Church model allows us to remain small while fostering growth, aligning well with our church culture and is highly effective for God’s Kingdom.

Our Deak’s cafe is utilised wonderfully by various Christian ministries and groups in addition to our church-based activities. “A busy little hub”.

We provide teaching, preaching, pastoral care and leadership. Pastoral care is a top priority, ranging from bible counseling to informal support, with one-to-one meetings, home visits, small groups and online communications, and baptisms.

Youth and Young Adult Ministry

We are grateful for having a Youth and Young Adults Pastor for this ministry.

We provide sermons, bible teaching, outings and groups.

We prepare our young people to advance and defend their faith as Australia moves further away from a Christian society.

Worship Team

Our worship team continues to serve God throughout the year with singing and instruments.

We encourage our youth to participate, including the Youth Band leading the service once a month.

Each year we have a Church Christmas Dinner and Carols night with a Nativity Play and special music performances.

Children’s Ministry

Kid’s ROCK ministry is a key component to our Church, positively shaping the lives of our kids.

We have a Child Safety program and Blue Cards as a requirement.

Do pray for our ministry to our children.

Missions

We connect with our partnered churches.

We participate in missionary works and trips. Our involvement in missions continues to grow as the Lord provides opportunities.

Mission is an important part of what it means to be a church which we continue as a model of truth.

Prayer

There are different avenues for prayer, one of which is our Prayerconnect on WhatsApp.

We also use WhatsApp for pastoral day-to-day communications, and ChurchTrac for events and administration.

We have a Sunday morning prayer meeting.

Men’s Group

This varies from time to time in terms of where, when, and which activities.

We enjoy getting to know one another more and diving deeper into our relationship with God.

Ladies Small Group

We have a divers group that meets each week of a morning – different nationalities and backgrounds, family settings and life experiences.

The majority of our group live alone so fellowship each week is important to us.

We organise various projects, such as arranging gifts for Baptist World Aid and our partnered churches.

In common, we are all children of God.

Tuesday Small Group

Our Tuesday night group continues to meet. We focus on a bible study, and of course time for personal discussion.

Some of us are moving into retirement.

For more information about our groups, please contact Pastor David Champness.

Guartero’s Small Group

Our group is composed of our brothers and sisters in Christ from various denominations and Churches in the area, including multi-cultural and ethnic backgrounds from many countries.

Our bible studies are usually provided by Pastor David Champness, with music during our praise time.

Healing Ministry Service

We provide healing ministry services where people come together specifically to pray for one another in their needs.

This is a safe and confidential time, and is focused on prayer rather than solving detailed problems.

Please contact Pastor David Champness for further details.

Prayer is simply talking to God in sincerity, in faith receiving what He sees as part of what best assists us to become whole people. This includes emotional, behavioural, memory, financial, relationship and physical healing. We emphasise that God works in many ways to help us heal, including use of our medical professions.