Baptists
in Australia
©
David Parker Dec 1999
Multicultural
and New Settler Baptist Ministry
by
Rev Dr Geoff Blackburn
©
November 1999
At the end of World War II Australia opened
its doors to refugees and migrants from war-weary Europe. They came in their
thousands. Among them were Baptists from Russia, Germany, Yugoslavia, Romania,
Hungary, Macedonia, Italy and other places. Naturally they started their own
churches where they could use their mother tongue and follow the worship
patterns and customs of the lands from which they came.
In 1966 a meeting of non-English speaking
pastors and leaders of what were then called New Settler churches was held in
the home of the “father” of our new settler work, the Rev J.G. Manning, at which
it was decided to form the New Settler Baptist Association of Victoria. In due
course a constitution was adopted, the main objectives of which were fellowship
with one another and evangelistic outreach to their own people.
At first, bringing the various national
groups together was not easy. Trust had to be established, in many instances,
between people whose countries had been fighting one another in World War II.
As the ethnic churches worshipped together at international rallies and held
regular multilingual prayer meetings, barriers of mistrust and misunderstanding
were broken down and a spirit of love and mutual concern developed among them.
Most ethnic churches do not have college
trained ordained ministers. Gifted godly men either aspire to, or are pressed
by their church to lead. One of the problems which I at times have been called
upon to help resolve has been squabbles with an ethnic group over leadership in
the church.
A feature of new settler work for over 30
years has been the yearly international rally when up to 500 new settlers
attend. The service is conducted in English with each ethnic group bringing a
choral item in their own language. Everyone enjoys seeing and hearing fellow
Christians from other lands and cultures singing songs and of praise and
worship to God in their own language and according to their own musical
tradition.
When the Billy Graham Crusades of 1959 and
1969 were held in Melbourne all the New Settler Baptist churches were fully
involved. Members of these churches who were fluent in English and their own
and may be one or two other languages, acted as interpreters and served as
counsellors. I was in the counselling room when the call would go out for a
counsellor who could speak Russian, German or some other language. People from
our new settler churches were ready to respond.
In 1974 the new settler or ethnic
associations of the different states decided to form the New Settler Baptist
Association of Australia. Every two years the Association would hold a conference,
usually over the Queen’s Birthday weekend, in one of the state capital cities.
These conferences were for fellowship and training and were much appreciated by
many people.
Some interesting facts:
* The large numbers of people from many different
European countries who arrived in Australia after World War 2 transformed
Australian society, which up to that time had been strongly British (English,
Scottish, Welsh) and Irish in origin. Today, nearly one in four of Australia's
18.6 million people was born overseas. The present mix is about 74%
Anglo-Celtic, other European 19% and Asian 4.5%.
* Since 1945, almost 5.7 million people have
come to Australia as new settlers The highest number of settlers to arrive in
any one year since World War II was 185,099, in 1969-70. The lowest number in
any one year was 52,752, in 1975-76.
* There were significant intakes of Hungarian
and Czech refugees following unrest in those countries in 1956 and 1968
respectively, from Chile following the overthrow of the Allende Government in
1973, from Indochina after the end of the Vietnam war in 1975, and from Poland
after martial law was declared in December 1981
* New arrivals continue, coming from more
than 150 countries (most from New Zealand and UK) and they are encouraged to
become part of the Australian society under the policy of multiculturalism
(which replaces earlier policies of assimilation and integration).
* Some of the social effects of this change
have been the introduction of more than 100 languages into Australian life
(while retaining English as the common language), the growth of community
language schools, ethnic media, businesses, new foods, and diverse religious
and cultural activities.
* German
and Scandanavian migration was encouraged in some areas during the
latter part of the 19th century. During the 19th century gold rushes, there was
a significant migration from China,
which in some cases caused sharp incidents; in due course, many of the Chinese
made their way back to their homeland. In the late 19th century people from the
islands of South Sea were brought
in to work on sugar plantations in parts of Queensland and northern New South
Wales, but this practice was banned in 1901 and most of ‘Kanakas’ were
repatriated. Afghans in the
second half of the 19th century arrived to play a part in opening up the
continent's interior; and Japanese
late in the 19th century were instrumental in the pearling industry.
* In 1901, the ‘White Australia Policy’ was
established (for economic and social reasons) which effectively restricted
migration of non-Europeans until it was gradually removed between 1949 and
1973. Since then there have been large numbers of Asian migrants entering
Australia under various government schemes (refugee, family reunion, business
settlement etc).
* At 30 June 1998, 23.4 % of the estimated
resident population were born overseas: 6.6 % in the UK and Ireland, 6.3 % in
Europe (excluding UK and Ireland), 5.4 % in Asia, 2.3 % in Oceania, 1.2 % in the
Middle East and North Africa, and 1.6 % in other regions.
* Baptists and other denominations actively
welcomed European post-war migrants, offering practical assistance in helping
them settle and introducing them to church life. Australian Baptist ministers
were part of the migrant ship chaplaincy program. Particular assistance was
rendered to Russians who made their way to Australia, including those from
China after 1949.
* By 1991 about 11% of Baptist church members
were born outside of Australia, UK, New Zealand, USA and South Africa. Some
ministers came from Britain under assisted migration schemes or self supporting
migrants.
* The biggest peak in arrival of
overseas-born Baptists since 1970 was 1981-85. Since 1971, over-seas-born
people have been more strongly represented amongst Baptists than in the general
population, reversing the trend prior to this date.
* Today many churches have multi-cultural
& ethnic ministries. Many of these ministries serve groups from Asia (Hong
Kong, China, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines) and other non-European
countries which now make up a significant part of the Australian migration
pattern.
* So, in 1996 there were about 50 churches
and fellowships from 22 language and cultural groups affiliated with the Baptist
Union of NSW. In 1993-94, Rev Edward Yu of Central Baptist Church, Sydney was
appointed President of the Baptist Union of NSW. Other states also have many
multi-cultural ministries.
* In Melbourne, there are 32 congregations
worshiping in languages other than English. Most work in conjunction with
well-established churches. All the main languages of the world are represented.
* Many other Australians born overseas or
with a parent born overseas are valued and active members of non-ethnic Baptist
churches.
* Australian Baptists have also been active
in ministry with the indigenous population.
(Sources include Baptist
church records, histories of Australia, Department of Immigration (http://www.immi.gov.au/) and The Baptists in Australia (by Philip J.
Hughes, published by Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population
Research, 1996)
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