THE BAPTIST UNION OF AUSTRALIA INC

The Baptist Union of Australia Incorporated

227 Burwood Road, Hawthorn Vic.

Tel: (03) 9818 0341 Fax: (03) 9818 1041

Contact Person

National Secretary, PO Box 377, Hawthorn Vic. 3122

Opening Hours: By arrangement

Access: Records are held by both the Baptist Union of Australia and within the Archives of the Baptist Union of Victoria. Interested persons should contact either the National Secretary (as above) or the Archivist of the Baptist Union of Victoria (see earlier entry)

Holdings (at National Office)

Australian Baptist Congress: reports and minutes from Congress in 1908, 1911, 1922 and 1925

The Baptist Union of Australia: minutes and some reports for Executive Committee, National Council, Triennial Assemblies from 1926 onwards

Australian Baptist Board of Christian Education: minutes and reports; samples of curriculum materials and other papers from 1940 onwards

Clifford Press: samples of booklet series, The Clifford Press, from 1952 onwards

Crossover Australia: correspondence, minutes, reports and other assorted material from 1985 onwards

Handbooks from some other National Baptist Unions

Reports from some Baptist World Alliance Congresses

National Baptist magazine - copies from Issue 1 (March 1988) onwards

Finding Aids

Only minimal classification

Special Note on the Baptist Union of Australia

Baptist work was initiated in the various Australian colonies during the period from 1831 to 1895. Initially, each area functioned more or less independently. But as the colonies prepared for political federation in a Commonwealth of Australia at the turn of the century, voices were raised demanding the federation of Baptist work. After a series of congresses in the early years of this century, an Interstate Convention in 1912 resolved to initiate joint action in missionary work, in the training of ministers, and in the setting up of a publishing house. In 1913, the state missionary societies combined forces in the Australian Baptist Foreign Mission, and The Australian Baptist commenced publication. Legal difficulties prevented the Baptist College of Victoria from becoming a federal institution.

After the First World War, the Baptist Union of Australia became a reality, when it was inaugurated at the Burton Street Tabernacle, Sydney, on Wednesday, August 25, 1926. The architect of its constitution was Mr. J. McDonald Martin. Rev. J. H. Goble of Victoria was elected as the Union’s first President.

Initially, three Boards were set up through which the Union might function: a Home Mission Board, with its secretariat located in NSW, to care for Baptist interests in the Federal capital, Canberra, but later to initiate work amongst Australian Aboriginal people; an Educational Board located in Victoria; and a Young People’s Board, served by Queensland officers. 1929 saw the establishment of the Ministerial Fund, located in Victoria, and in 1935 a Federal Advisory Board. Victorian women were active in setting up a Women’s Board, which also began its ministry in the same year. Then in 1938 a Board of Evangelism was formed, located in South Australia.

In the post war period, these bodies were supplemented by a Literature Board in 1947, located in Victoria, and in 1950 by a Men’s Board. Later, in 1956, the functions of the Young People’s and Literature Boards were combined in the Board of Education and Publication. In 1971, the Australian Baptist Missionary Society became a Board of the Union. For the most part, responsibility for the work of the Boards has been shared, as offices have rotated between the states. The Educational Board ceased to function in 1975. (From a document by B. S. Brown)

For further information, see:

Australian Baptists - Past and Present, Michael Petras (ed.), (Sydney: BHS of NSW, 1988)

Baptised into one Body: a short history of the Baptist Union of Australia, Basil S. Brown (Hawthorn: Baptist Union of Australia, 1987)

Baptist Union of Australia Souvenir Programme: Inaugural Meetings, 1926

Caring is by Sharing: Twenty-five years of Australian Baptist World Aid and Relief, Alan C. Prior, (Sydney: ABWARC, 1984)

Early Australian Baptist History, W. Higlett (Baptist Union of Australia, 1926)

Serving on the Frontiers: a story of Baptist work in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, T.J. Cardwell ABHM, 1980)