Chaplain’s Chat: A movement 164 years old Copy

This year we celebrate 75 years of Carinity. This is an amazing milestone – yet Carinity belongs to a larger movement that has existed for 164 years!

Christian leaders have shaped movements around the world – Martin Luther King Junior, the Baptist pastor  who initiated the civil rights movement in America; William Wilberforce, who helped abolish slavery in England; and Diethrich Bonhoeffer, who opposed Hitler.

Here in Australia, John McKaeg, a fiery Presbyterian pastor from Scotland, seemingly stumbled into prominence in an imperfect way. After being kicked out of his church in Scotland, described by his colleagues as being “quite mad”, McKaeg found himself in Australia in 1830.

Uninvited by the established religions, he proceeded to launch the Australian Baptist Church in Parramatta on 24 April 1831. A local solicitor who was present said McKaeg was, “not as sober as he might have been” when delivering his first sermon. Not the best image for a church planting pioneer!

With the Baptist church in Australia firmly established, in 1836, a group of Baptists left New South Wales for the Moreton Bay penal colonies to witness to prisoners and visit the sick.

This launched the Queensland Baptists movement, which now has around 220 churches and over 30,000 people meeting together around the state. Like John McKaeg, our movement is filled with imperfect people with that same desire to make a real difference.

Just as God chose to use people like McKaeg 188 years ago, he continues to use people to help Carinity achieve our mission today. On our 75th anniversary, we pay tribute to those who come before us and those who continue serving vulnerable people in our communities today.

 

REVEREND DAN LYONS, Director of Missional Culture & Leadership

Read more stories from Belong – Winter 2024