The Gospel: Relevant to Every Culture

By Malcolm Armstrong

Auburn Baptist celebrated its 121st year in August this year. It has been a large church with a membership peaking at around 400 in 1933, and about 150 in the mid-seventies. Now our membership is in the low 40’s with about 60 attending Sunday morning. Our constituency in both the church and the local community is very different compared to those golden years.

Maintaining Auburn Baptist is important, as it’s an integral part of the community. We have a playgroup that meets every Monday where all the mothers, of various nationalities (Turkish, Indian, and Chinese), are from the community; English classes are conducted in the Blue Room, and a senior’s group meets at the church every second Thursday.

The large church facilities are dated and in a run-down state. MMM’s contribution has enabled these facilities to be transformed. They did for us what would have been very expensive to do ourselves.

The Blue Room, a large room at the rear of the worship auditorium was in urgent need of a new ceiling. It is one of the most used rooms in the church offering a place for our Junior Church and Chinese fellowship. The new ceiling looks fantastic. The other area of work was the run-down Old Manse across the road from the church. The Old Manse received a new coat of paint and the internal floor was jacked-up and stabilised. These improvements have made the house presentable and a good witness to the community! We praise God for such a devout team of skilled men. It was a great experience getting to know them.

When I first came as Pastor in 2003, there were a large number of Sudanese whom the church was involved in helping. Whilst the Sudanese have since reduced in number, we have 13 nationalities worshipping each Sunday (if everyone shows up!) in the community of Auburn, which is approximately 24% Muslim.

During MMM’s time at Auburn, there was a knock on the door from a young Pakistani Muslim man who had been in the country for one month. He wanted to know more about Christianity and if there were any Bible Studies. I gave him a couple of leaflets about Christianity and he said he would come to church on Sunday – and he did! Other ethnic groups in the community are, Afghani, a number of African groups, Middle Eastern, Islander’s, Indian, Sri Lankan, South-East Asian and many more. The ethnic groups we have in our church come largely for the English service, and we seek to embrace them with a warm welcome and include them as part of the fellowship.

I find it stimulating as a Pastor as I am learning to listen more intently as almost everyone has an accent! We are praying about other ways we can be effective in communicating the Gospel and God’s love to a diverse range of people.

The Gospel message is relevant to every culture. We are working together with the Chinese fellowship by way of employing Sam, a Youth Worker to minister to all the young people, with a specific focus on those from China.

Different cultures can work together in Gospel ministry! We are a welcoming church. Lord willing the Old Manse will eventually be a people-space where we can connect as a church with new arrivals and share practically and spiritually with these people. We are praying about this old house specifically at the moment that it will send a message to the community that we care and that we have an exciting cross-cultural message to share through Christ!

We cannot tell you how much we appreciate what Les and the team meant to us in doing what they did. As the Pastor, I am particularly grateful for their dedication in using their individual skills to benefit the Lord’s work. Thank you to Les, Ron, Geoff, Brian, Frank, Roger and Trevor for your ministry to us. It has been a great encouragement to be the receivers of your ministry. Thank you also to Peter for your initial visit to assess our work needs and for including Auburn Baptist in your schedule this year.