Mosaic's History
Mosaic Baptist Church is one of the longer serving churches in the Australian Capital Territory.
The Mosaic community doesn't rest on the laurels of the past accomplishments, but the opportunity to build and learn from the past to move forward helping people understand who Jesus is and how he can impact their lives and community them.
In 2022, Mosaic Baptist Church joyfully marked its 50th anniversary.
By God's grace, the church has journeyed from its beginnings as Belconnen Baptist Church. After 2-3 years of Baptist Christians meeting in homes, the church was officially established in 1972 with 38 members.
Services took place at Page Primary School, Belconnen. Various ministries began, including an all-inclusive Christian Education Programme and a mission support initiative.
Church members have warmly welcomed ideas from different evangelical backgrounds, with many diverse members becoming leaders.
Leadership has been through a Diaconate since 1972 and an Eldership since 1978.
Pastorate
The church has been supported in its ministries by five pastorates:
Revd. Dr Garth Eichhorn (1975-1986),
Revd. Linton Smith (1987-2000) and
Revd. David Moyes (2003-2012).
Revd. Clayton Riddle (2016-2020)
Revd. Phil Waugh (2022-)
Many other ministers both lay and professional of shorter duration have enriched the church over these years including the current leadership team.
Current Senior Pastor - Revd. Phil Waugh
Foundations and Church Structures
The original church centre was built in the mid-1970s at Page.
In 1990 a larger church centre was completed – an extension to the original building. With a desire to use the building for community outreach a Creative Leisure group was commenced. In the mid-80s Another Chance Op Shop (now at the Scullin Shops) was opened for business.
In 2000, the church purchased a house in close proximity to the church that now serves as a Community Centre.
As the end of the century loomed, it was apparent that the then current leadership structures were inadequate for a ministry into the new century. In particular, the Deacons were often preoccupied with administrative issues and had little time to address the real work of the church via ministry.
This resulted in considerable heart-searching and through a vision forming process we believe we were led to clearly articulate a vision for the Church. From this, God led to a revision of the role of Deacons.
This resulted in a decision that they should become Servant Leaders, with responsibilities for specific areas of ministries. The Servant Leadership Team, therefore, replaced the Diaconate.
As these new initiatives were launched, the dreams and visions of many became realities as the gifting of many became released in service through ministry teams and servant leadership roles.
A further change to the church’s leadership structure occurred in 2003 when it was decided that Servant Leaders would concentrate on their ministry portfolios, and a new team, the Church Board, would become the officers of the Church and be responsible for policy decisions, governance, finance and staffing.
New Locations, New Name
More recently, the church adopted a multi-congregational model across a variety of locations.
Initially around 40-50 people met in a local school in the Gungahlin area as a new congregation was formed, led by Pastor Clayton Riddle. In 2015 the church purchased a building in Mitchell, ACT part of the Gungahlin area as the meeting place for this congregation.
With a new location in the Gungahlin region of the ACT being added, it was appropriate to review the name of the church as ‘Belconnen Baptist’ in Gungahlin was not suitable.
After considerable discussion and consideration of several names by members of the church, Mosaic Baptist Church was chosen.
Mosaic represented the diversity of the community of people, their ages, backgrounds and cultures as one Body in Christ.
Along with the adoption of the multi-congregational model, the church undertook a review to ensure its vision, goals, purposes and operational model all aligned.
In 2018, discussions were underway with North Belconnen Baptist Church in Evatt. North Belconnen had been operating since the early 80s.
On November 21 2018, North Belconnen Baptist Church and Mosaic Baptist Church agreed to formally merge, with the intention that as a consequence the unincorporated association of North Belconnen Baptist Church will be dissolved, and a new congregation of Mosaic Baptist Church will be launched.
Mosaic Baptist Church, Evatt, held its first service on 17 February 2019.
From its inception Mosaic Baptist Church has been deeply committed to cross cultural mission and has sent and supported a large number of workers.
We praise God for the way He has blessed His church and we are mindful of our responsibilities in serving Him through the community, locally and overseas, now and into the future.
Mosaic Baptist Church volunteers are trained in Safe Church Practices
Key Details
Page - 18 Dallachy St
Evatt - Chomley Court
Nicholls - Perce Douglas Memorial - Fields
Office Hours:
Mon – Fri, 9 AM – 2:30 PM
Tel: 02 6254 6565
Postal:
P.O.Box, Hawker 2614 ACT
ABN: 84 183 567 796
