Bendigo Baptist Church

A heart to reach the local community

Through their partnership with Sports Chaplaincy Australia, they have been able to train up and send out multiple chaplains into various sporting clubs and are now connected to thousands of people in their local community.

Senior Pastor, Dave Lovell, says that this ministry has positioned them in the wider community to be the “go-to” people when they are in a time of need.

Being present and available in this way has resulted in lots of opportunities to engage. This has included:

• people building relationships
• discussing faith
• attending church for events, marriage counselling, weddings, funerals and more!

“I think sports chaplaincy is a key for churches in terms of reaching communities. We could put on the best show every Sunday and we wouldn’t have this entire community of Bendigo wanting to get to church here. So part of our strategy is going to the community.”