Our Story
We began back in 1937 as a Sunday School meeting in the local school hall – an outreach from the Lower Hutt Baptist Church (Puriri St). The Rumgay Street site was acquired in the 40s and the church first met in its new buildings there in 1949. In 2022, we moved out of our buildings because they were earthquake prone, and again began meeting in the local school hall at the time that was available, 5pm on Saturdays.
While the way we express our faith has changed dramatically over the years, we continue to worship the same unchanging God who inspired our founding members. For more than 70 years, we have sought to grow as disciples of Jesus as, empowered by His spirit, we serve in our local community and make more disciples of Jesus as we go.
Our Team
Michael has been the senior pastor at Epuni Baptist Church (EBC) since 2021. A ‘third age’ pastor following a career in public service, consulting and research, Michael is leading the church through a period of significant change and building on EBC’s call to be a local church that grows disciples. He loves Jesus, loves people, loves community, and has embraced Wellington as a fantastic place to live.
Shani has been working with the youth of Epuni Baptist since 2014. She is passionate about seeing young people’s lives changed through relationship with Jesus and came to faith in the very youth group she now leads. Shani has worked with people of all ages while being a preschool teacher and a PA prior to youth pastor. She is a māmā of two girls and has studied both te reo and theology. While leading the youth, Shani also preaches and pursues creative endeavours around the church.
Donna has been the hub of our office for over 10 years and can always point you in the right direction or answer any question. Donna works in the church office on Friday mornings 9-12 noon. She is married to Andrew and has two awesome adult children.
Oversight Team
An elected oversight team of seven (equivalent to “elders” in other church contexts) leads EBC, prayerfully overseeing the church and its ministries and coordinating care for the church family.
Ministry Leaders
Each of our core areas of service (children, youth, community mission, operations) is led by a ministry leader who works with the support of the pastoral team and under the leadership of the oversight team.
Operations Team
An operations team faithfully administers the church’s finances and maintains the church’s physical assets.
Core Beliefs/Vision
Our vision is to be a church where we belong and grow in our relationships with others; meet with Jesus and grow to be more like him; and participate in God’s mission, blessing our neighbourhood and world.
We aim to grow in belonging and in our relationships with others as we welcome one another and give space and grace for every person. We seek to be people who love, support, and forgive one another, and who walk the journey of faith together – where “in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:5)
We meet with Jesus and grow to be more like him in faith, in worship, in prayer, and in everyday living. Jesus taught, in John 6:35: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”. We want to be people who are captivated by Jesus, and who are increasingly grateful for the life we’ve found in Him.
We participate in God’s mission and bless our neighbourhood and world by being faithful where God has placed us, by meeting the practical needs of others as we are able and by sharing the good news of the gospel in word and deed. We believe that, just like the Israelites in Jeremiah 29:7, we’re called to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city”. We want to be a church that grows disciples. To do that, we focus on a simple process – Life with each other. Life through Jesus. Life to our world.
We believe that the church is a community of those who trust in God the Father, in God the Son Jesus Christ and in God the Holy Spirit – one God; who are repentant of their sin and who have been saved by personal faith in Jesus Christ through His atoning death and resurrection; who publicly proclaim their faith and are committed to the church’s vision, aims and functions.
Core to that is our belief in:
- The true humanity and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- The atonement made on the cross by our Lord for the sin of the world.
- His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father where He intercedes for us.
- The person of the Holy Spirit as the one who sanctifies and who sets apart, empowers and imparts spiritual gifts to the church.
- The inspiration of the Bible and its authority in all matters of faith and practice.
- Salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone.
- Membership of the church being for those who have received salvation.
- The immersion of believers as the scriptural form of baptism.
We are a part of the Baptist Union of New Zealand. If you’d like to find out more about what that means, you can find out more here.
