Located in the south west quadrant of Christchurch in Aotearoa New Zealand, South West Baptist Church (SWBC) has a long missional history, working in and with local and global communities.
For the past decade, SWBC have been on a journey rediscovering what it means to be local church. Guided by a vision focused on Redemptive Communities and Lifelong Followers, and prayerful reflection on the questions such as “Where is the Spirit at work? Where is there new life? Where is God raising up a new way of living out our redemptive life?”, geographic neighbourhoods has emerged as our expression of Redemptive Communities.
This journey has required, and is still requiring, a renewal of our understanding of ‘church’ including new ways of training leaders, integrating community ministries, and hosting Sunday gatherings. Transitioning into a church which operates with distributed leadership requires new structures, language, policies, and staffing.
Within all of this, there is space for everyone to participate in seeking God’s kingdom in the places where we live, guided by the ongoing call-and-response of listening and obeying God’s call on our life.
To find our more you can:
Read this article about our journey from 2017.
Read about our approach to training missional church leaders.