Denomination: Baptist
The vision of Dunedin City Baptist Church is summed up in Isaiah 54:2-3 - Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched out. Do not hold back - lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns.
For the past 20 years this has shaped the way we view our church life. These verses remind us we exist not just to grow our own church but to grow the kingdom of God beyond our own congregation. Although we adopted these verses formally only in 1989, they reflect the convictions of our church since its foundation in 1863. In the 19th century we sent some of the first Baptist missionaries to go beyond New Zealand and helped establish the Baptist missionary society, as well as planting many other congregations in Dunedin. We want our spiritual children to spread out!
For the past 20 years this has shaped the way we view our church life. These verses remind us we exist not just to grow our own church but to grow the kingdom of God beyond our own congregation. Although we adopted these verses formally only in 1989, they reflect the convictions of our church since its foundation in 1863. In the 19th century we sent some of the first Baptist missionaries to go beyond New Zealand and helped establish the Baptist missionary society, as well as planting many other congregations in Dunedin. We want our spiritual children to spread out!
