About RBC

Our Passion

Our Story

During 1969, two families, then members of Bentleigh Baptist Church, purchased land in Rowville and as they looked over the open paddocks said …”Wouldn’t it be wonderful to start a church in Rowville some time in the future?”

Houses were built during 1970 and moved into early in 1971 with the two families transferring their membership to Dandenong Baptist Church.

During late 1973, three people living in Rowville made commitments to Christ and a small Housegroup was begun early in 1974.

The group grew during that year until there were five families attending regularly. A decision was taken to commence evening services from August 1974. One additional family attended the first service that night, so that there were now six families committed to the Rowville Baptist Fellowship.

In February 1975 we held our first Sunday morning service at which we were formally constituted as a Baptist Fellowship. At that time the church met in the Rowville Pre-school buildings along Wellington Road. Then in 1980 land was purchased. In 1984 an old classroom building was moved to the site to become our all-purpose worship centre. The church was formally constituted as a Baptist Church on March 23, 1980.

During the 1990s the auditorium was extended to its present size and the “Education Centre” (portable) was added. In 2010 we opened the “Wellington Care Centre” and new offices.

The property and ministries of the church have continued to be developed as we seek to follow the Lord and serve our community in relevant ways. The various ministries outlined in this booklet describe where we are today. We are a contemporary, caring, growing church.

We believe the Lord has a great future for us. If you do not have a church you call “home”, we would love for you to share this future with us.

Our Beliefs

• The Divine Inspiration and supreme authority of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
• The existence of One God in Three Persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
• The Deity and incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, the second Person in the Holy Trinity.
• The fallen, sinful and lost state of all people.
• The salvation of people from the penalty and the power of sin, through the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, His atoning death, His resurrection from the dead, His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His unchanging priesthood.
• The direct work of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of believers in their sanctification, and in their preservation to the Heavenly Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The necessity for salvation of repentance towards God, and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The Resurrection of the Dead, and the final judgement of all people by the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The two Ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ, namely Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which are of perpetual obligation: Baptism being the immersion of believers upon the profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a symbol of sharing in His death, burial and resurrection; the Lord’s Supper being a memorial, until He comes, of the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Baptist Distinctives

Rowville Baptist Church is part of the Baptist Union of Victoria, a voluntary association of about two hundred churches representing over 20,000 people. This links us to the Baptist Union of Australia and the Baptist World Alliance – perhaps the largest Protestant denomination in the world. In response to the Lord’s call to global mission we support the work of Global InterAction, and Baptist World Aid along with other Mission agencies.

Baptists are a “mainstream church”, affirming all the foundational creeds of Christianity. Some of our distinctives are:

• Believers’ Baptism: we baptise only those who have a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Full immersion is our preferred form of baptism.
• Scriptural Authority: we recognise the Bible as the primary authority for knowing God’s revelation and will in Jesus Christ.
• Priesthood of all Believers: we acknowledge that all believers have equal access to God.
• Congregational Government: decisions in the local church are made by the members of the church, under the Lordship of Christ.
• Autonomy of the local Church: each local church arranges its own affairs under Christ.
• Freedom of Conscience: we support the liberty of the individual and recognise diversity within the unity of the Church.
• Separation of Church and State: we oppose Government regulation of religion.