About us
Every Sunday morning people gather for our 10.30am church service. This is fairly traditional in style and has a children's programme that runs alongside this called 10.45 Live (we start the service with everyone in together and the children leave after the first 15 minutes). After the service we have morning tea together. There are Youth Group activities during the week and other small groups that happen around the city and from time to time we host a lecture series on certain topics or themes. We would define ourselves currently as evangelical baptists with a growing focus on community, discipleship, and mission. We seek to be a place that embraces diversity as we serve and worship God in this city. There have been a number of staff changes and additions since 2008, along with some new members and visitors. We are excited about how God is guiding us at this time. Watch this space!
This church was formed by nineteen English Baptists in 1863 – thirteen years after the founding of Christchurch. The first minister was Decimus Dolamore, who was one of the pioneers of Baptist work in New Zealand. The congregation initially met in the Town Hall in High Street, then built a church on land it had purchased in Lichfield Street (1864), now marked by a plaque on a building opposite the Bus Exchange. After an unfortunate division within the membership (1867), the people reunited in 1870 and worshipped in a church in Hereford Street, which was moved to the present site in Oxford Terrace in 1879. The church has had a long association with the life of the city, has been involved in setting up new congregations in Christchurch, and was a founding member of the Baptist Union of New Zealand and the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society (now called TRANZSEND).
The present church sanctuary was built in 1881. Its classical design is notable in a city dominated by Gothic architecture. It is listed as a Category 1 building under the New Zealand Historical Places Register. The refurbishment of the interior of the church in the late 1980s provides a light, open space. The pipe organ, imported from England, was installed in 1915 and continues to play a part in the 10.30am Sunday worship of the church.
