Impact Report
Since we started as a church there is so much to thank God for. We have seen his grace saving new people and growing us to be more like Jesus.
So let's take the time to reflect on how we've grown, and praise God for his goodness!
A message from
Paul Young
As a church and within every Christian we desire for five main things to be at work. We pray that we are a church deep in the Word and that we grow in maturity. We ask that God would create a heart for mission within us and that we would be part of his amazing work for others to know the love and lordship of Jesus. We desire that every member be equipped and trained to serve one another in all of life ministry. We yearn we would not be isolated individuals but that we would partner in the work of the gospel together in membership of the body of Christ. And that our whole lives would bring glory to God and magnify his holy name. We pray to God that those five things would be present in each of us, and particularly within the entire community of Providence Bayswater.
But I realise that as we grow, those stories are less likely to be known. So, we wanted a chance to share with you, our partners in the Gospel, the things we are thanking God for doing among us. Not only does this help us praise God, but it helps you know how all the little things you do contribute to our prayer and vision of reaching the 67,000 in the City of Bayswater that don’t know the grace of Jesus.
As a result, we decided to create yearly impact reports that describe what has happened and what we’re praying for.
In 2.5 years, Baysie has come a long way. We started with 28 adults and 19 kids. By the grace of God, we’re now using all 150 seats in the Bayswater Bowls Club. We survived a global pandemic together, we survived the year that eleven babies were born, we survived a funeral, baptisms, dedications, computer breakdowns, roller hockey, good coffee and bad… We have seen it all and we are still here growing and becoming living proof of the gospel together for Jesus’ sake.
Highlights of our history
2009 - Providence Church begins
2011 - Providence Midlands planted
2020 - Providence Bayswater launch team forms
November 2020 - Launch team disbanded!
7 March 2021 - Public launch
16 May 2021 - First child dedicated to the Lord
31 October 2021 - First baptisms at Prov Baysie (Elisha and Jamila)
25 December 2021 - First Christmas at the Bowlo
6 February 2022 - Church planting residency program begins
6 March 2022 - First birthday
26 May 2022 - First Sunday above 100 attendees without a special event
25 September 2022 - First Staycation
December 2022 - First Carols Stall at the City of Bayswater
26 February 2023 - First Sunday using every chair in the Bowlo
5 March 2023 - Second birthday
Our Vision
Our vision is to grow a thriving church of faithful and courageous Christians who are passionately committed to seeing the lost find grace.
We want to see every member of our church:
- Convicted and shaped by the gospel
- Growing in gospel love and maturity through the Word of God
- Motivated by gospel courage and mobilised to take the Good News to the streets of Bayswater and beyond with confidence
There are around 70,000 people living in Perth’s City of Bayswater, but about 67,000 of them don’t have a relationship with Jesus.
There is a gospel drought in Perth. It’s hard for people to hear the gospel, and it’s even harder for them to find a church where the gospel is lived out in community.
That’s why we started Providence Bayswater: a church that would take the gospel seriously, that would love one another deeply, and that would reach out to our community with living proof of God’s goodness.
Mission
At Baysie we long for every person in the City of Bayswater to know the love and lordship of Jesus Christ, and be transformed by his grace.
"God chooses to use our efforts"
"Mission at Baysie is both a huge privilege and incredibly humbling. It's amazing that God chooses to use the efforts of his people in proclaiming the Gospel to save people. Our work really does matter, and that's an incredible privilege! It's also humbling (and a relief) that at the end of the day, it's God's work not ours. God is the one at work graciously saving people through Jesus, and so we can trust in his power, not our own.
I love being able to think through all that with the Mission Team. I certainly don't have all the ideas (in fact my ideas are often pretty lame), and so it's a joy to be able to sit down with others as we discuss how to reach everyone in Bayswater with the gospel."
- Aidan Smith, Providence Bayswater Resident + Mission Purpose Leader
Where we’ve come from
Come and explore all of your questions over four uniquely crafted meals based on key moments of the Bible. At Providence we love that people who are sceptical, agnostic or from other religions are comfortable exploring Christianity with us. So, we’ve decided to do that the same way Jesus did—over a meal. During this course, you can meet some of the pastoral team, ask your questions, and hear about what the Bible is all about; namely, Jesus himself.
“The best part about attending Taste & See was being taught a great overview of the Bible in a social setting. It was wonderful! I was struck by the depth of the Bible in terms of its creation story, in-depth history, and spiritual teachings of Jesus. I was challenged with the constant tension between living as Jesus lived and implores us to live, and the realities of life is a daily challenge. Thinking of things in a big picture way has been a challenge and a joy. I am very thankful for the time Paul and Bec take to go through this process with people. It is really commendable, especially given they are so busy.”
- Sophie Lane, Taste & See Participant
"I think in our culture it's rare to sit down and talk through things of life-changing significance, and so it's always an amazing evening being able to spend time chatting with people about the core aspects of Christianity, and so good that we can do it over food! As someone who has been a Christian for a while, it's also a good reminder for me of the beauty of the gospel, that Jesus' death and resurrection truly is Good News for all people! Seeing people come to realise that for the first time is incredible."
- Aidan Smith
Since launch, we have run four Taste & See courses.
And we've launched Taste & See nationally for other churches with training, materials, talks, and a book (forthcoming).
Mission Team
- Aidan Smith (Mission Team Leader)
- Ryan Juniper
- Greg Halls
- Clair Halls
- Laura Igglesden
- David Beros (Liturgical Feasts Team Leader)
Other things of note...
- Since we’ve launched we have done seven baptisms.
- Since we’ve launched we have done five dedications.
- The Mission Team formed in Q3 2022.
Since then…
- Hosted the annual Carols at the Bowlo.
- Hosted the annual Easter Picnic.
- Hosted a Destiny Rescue fundraiser in 2022.
- Helped out at the annual City of Bayswater Carols.
And we've also run Investigate twice!
Investigate is a guided reading through Jesus' entire life in five weeks! We get to see who Jesus really is by investigating the one of the earliest and more reliable sources of Mark's Gospel.
Ministry
At Baysie we want to see everyone trained and equipped to use their gifts for the building up of God’s church.
Ministry Directors Training
In Q2 of 2023, we trained up the first seven person cohort of Ministry Directors through our Ministry Director Training. This training is crucial as it helps us produce high quality Christian leaders of leaders.
Over three sessions we trained our Ministry Directors in three key areas:
- Session #1: Pipeline, Training, Coaching
- Session #2: Taking Responsibility
- Session #3: Building Teams, Working Together, Celebrating Wins
"Ministry Director training involved watching some online resources about church ministry leadership, meeting together and discussing these things in light of the Bible and our context. This included a range of topics from looking at structures of effective ministry leadership to how to approach someone to join a ministry.
This training helped me to understand the importance of promoting the mission of our ministry. It also helped me to understand team structures that facilitate teamwork and growth, rather than individual-led ministry. Through this training God has given me a perspective shift of the ministry being a necessary service to something that can bring people closer to God. This has given me fresh motivation and passion for the role by demonstrating it is something bigger than myself and a few others, instead a ministry for God’s glory. Whilst bringing someone new to the team I was able to genuinely share the mission of our ministry and how they could be a part of that, which is something I would have struggled with previously.
Since completing the training, I have noticed greater buy-in to the mission of our ministry. Our team is small and we regularly have to cover each other's absences, something I believe each member is happy to do as they recognise the importance of our ministry and mission. This “team” mentality of helping each other out has also helped some team members through difficult times and they have expressed their appreciation toward the team. I have also noticed greater feedback from the team, which further demonstrates the buy-in they have in this ministry."
- Stephen Bruce
Providence Bayswater Residents
Since 2022 at Providence Bayswater, we have invited godly men and women at theological college to apply for our church planting residency. These positions sit alongside theological education and offer practical training within a church plant.
This is a training position to grow them in ministry competency and church planting.
This is a ministry position to see Providence Bayswater reach the lost with grace.
So far…
In 2022, we trained Liz Shanhun, Tim Aguero, and Aidan Smith. We sent off Liz and Tim at the end of the year while Aidan continued his training into 2023 with us and was joined by Jacinta Patterson and Nicholas Wood.
Around Australia, many churches have enquired with us about our residency training and so now it is being used nationally too!
“I come to the end of my residency with the confidence and resources to one day, under God, give it [church planting] a good go. Paul has been generous in investing so much of his time into us residents.”
Tim Aguero
“It’d be so easy for the program to just be about filling gaps and getting us to do the jobs no one else has time for. But there’s a great focus on training, reviewing, and equipping. Paul and the team at Prov Baysie have thought hard about how best to train and equip the residents, and I’m leaving this year much more confident in ministry and with a much more thoughtful system than when I began.”
Liz Shanhun
Membership
At Baysie we want to enable more and more people to partner with us in life and ministry.
“So many have chosen to make our church their home this year.”
“Membership is all about seeing more and more people grasp what church is all about. In one sense, it is grasping what God has done to bring us together into one body. It's incredible! But in another sense, it's also about helping people see what is unique about our church in particular. What makes us tick? How do we work, serve, partner and pray? The thing I love about being involved in the Membership team is seeing people get that, grab hold of it and make it their own. A member at Baysie is someone who loves God, and because they love God they love our church and our mission too. It's great helping people take that on.
The best part about seeing Membership at work is that you measure it in people. And if this year has been anything -it really has been a growth in people coming, joining and partnering with us. A full room at Paul's house, lunch at the bowlo, a bunch of people asking questions about what it will look like to be part of our church - that's a great thing to be part of. I'm thankful to God that so many have chosen to make our church their home this year.”
- Nicholas Wood, Church Planting Resident + Membership Purpose Leader
“We saw the people at Baysie were keen to grow in their knowledge and love for the God of the Bible. We also saw that people were open with their lives to all those around them in meaningful but everyday ways. We also felt supported as parents and appreciated that kids were free to just be kids within the community. We have highly valued and respected Paul’s thoughtful teaching and leadership style as well.”
Gavin & Laura Thorn, and their children Ben and Sarah, new members at Baysie in 2023
Welcome to Baysie is a lunch at Paul’s house usually run once a quarter (but sometimes more!) as the initial follow-up for any newbies coming along to Baysie. At this lunch we run through the history of the Providence network and Baysie specifically, Paul shares his story, the why of church planting, the vision and mission of Baysie, and then opens the floor for questions.
From here, if people are keen and onboard with what we’re on about, we plug them into our two week Belong course where we look at…
- Providence & Faith
- Bayswater & Courage
So far we’ve run Belong…
- 2021: Four times across the year
- 2022: Five times across the year
- 2023: Three times (as of September 2023)
This has led to…
- 84 Adults and 53 Kids call Providence Bayswater their home (as at September 2023).
Once people go through Welcome to Baysie and Belong, we love to have a sit down conversation with them about how they might be able to serve Baysie and the local community as we seek to reach the lost with grace. We call this the Serve Interview. We only implemented this step in mid-2022. As of August 2023, have conducted 17 Serve Interviews. We have also trained the rest of the Providence Network in how to conduct these interviews.
Key people
Purpose Leader + Ministry Directors
- Nicholas Wood
Welcome Team Leaders
- Dave Elston
- Frankie Lo Surdo
- Greg Halls
Maturity
At Baysie we want to grow each person deep into God’s Word to be living proof of the Gospel.
“Their lives are being built on solid foundations.”
I love seeing people mature in their faith because it means they come to love and depend on Jesus more, and so their lives are being built on solid foundations that withstand rough weather. Through training at Baysie, God has equipped me with a number of ministry skills that have grown me in confidence to do church ministry: I have run meetings, have a range of simple and clear tools in my toolbelt for everyday ministry and it has been huge for me learning how to relate to crèche kids, teach them about Jesus, and see how precious each of these little humans are.”
- Jacinta Patterson, Church Planting Resident + Maturity Purpose Co-Leader
Spotlight on ProvCreche and ProvKids
ProvCrèche and ProvKids are averaging 40 kids in total on a Sunday morning, hoorah! And growing fast!
“My first week of helping at ProvCrèche I think I made three kids cry. I was terrified of them! But someone told me that you can't show any fear! So the next week I metaphorically did some power poses and I think I made one kid laugh! Since then I have been having a great time trying to relate to the kids and giving them cheeky smiles in the service! Loving it!
I am constantly struck at kids church about how much four-year- olds know about Jesus! It is clear that they are picking up on more than I expected and their parents are clearly reading the Bible with them. Super lovely to hear!” - Jacinta Patterson
Our kids have been learning 1 John 4:10 in Auslan!
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
We now have access to a new space, the Cahoots centre, just across the road from the Bowlo, for our kids ministry.
“It's a huge blessing to have a venue where we have space to grow, kids to be kids and eventually multiplying into age-appropriate classes. Currently we are using the foyer of the Bowlo means we can't run a lot of activities and games. It's also a lot to ask for kids to sit on the floor, listen for a period of time and not make too much noise to disturb the service (they do anyway!).”
- Tim Teow, ProvKids Ministry Director
Spotlight on Growth Groups
Our vision for Growth Groups is…
Deep in the Word
- We don't go shallow on the Word.
- We wrestle with the text.
- We apply it to all parts of life.
Deep in knowing one another
- We share openly.
- We get to matters of the heart.
- We welcome new and different people as a reflection of God’s love for them.
Deep in prayer
- As groups we support and pray. We cannot fix.
- We resist talking about others, instead we talk to others and pray for them.
We have grown to five Growth Groups in 2023 with 12 Growth Group Leaders, and around 50-60 people in Growth Groups. We are also training five new Growth Group Leaders in 2023.
I have a confession to make: from the launch of Baysie I was stubbornly resistant to be part of a GG for a few reasons including the usual busyness of life, social introversion etc... I was actually surprised to be encouraged from the first night - I'll admit though we have a good group of folks who love Jesus and are willing to share the messiness of life.
- Tim Teow
Key people
Purpose Leader
- Paul Young + Jacinta Patterson
Ministry Directors
- Kelsey Wood - ProvYouth
- Tim Teow - ProvKids
- Bec Young, Jacinta Patterson, Imogen Thomson - ProvCrèche
- Tiff Bennett
- Tim Wood
Magnification
At Baysie we want to worship God more than anything else in all life.
“Genuine hearts for Jesus”
Laura loves the authenticity of everyone at Baysie during the week and on Sundays. “It’s a community where you will find so many people with genuine hearts for Jesus and a profound love and care for others.” As part of the Music Team at Baysie Laura shares, “I’m eager to see how God will continue to grow and use each member of Baysie to his glory and for us to strengthen our presence in the local community to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Bayswater.”
- Laura Igglesden, Music Team Member
Venue Management Spotlight
Our vision in the Venue Management team is for the people of our church to live for God’s glory in all aspects of their Christian life.
- We aim to create a distraction-free space for our Sunday service.
- We enable other ministry teams to focus on their roles by organising logistics.
- We ensure good stewardship of the venue.
"Our service affects the way the church works"
"I love serving on the Venue Management team because it allows me to serve in a way that meets an obvious need of the church whilst also building relationships with other Christians on the team. It’s rewarding and motivating to know that our service affects the way the church works, both logistically and in the way we worship."
- Stephen Bruce, Ministry Director of the Venue Management Team
Key people
Purpose Leader
- Paul Young
Ministry Directors
- Ryan Juniper (Music Ministry Director)
- Stephen Bruce (Venue Management)
What’s next?
Praise God!
How awesome is it to see God at work in so many varying ways over our last three years.
Baysie: God has, is, and will continue to work in and around our church and community in big ways and small ways, in ways we can see, and ways we can’t. But in it all, we have a responsibility to continue to pray. Pray big and bold prayers for Baysie and our city as we look to 2024 and beyond. Specifically, pray this prayer written by Clement of Rome:
Creator of all, preserve unbroken those you have called through your Son, Jesus Christ. He has called us from darkness to light, from ignorance to knowing the glory of his name.
Lord, our hope rests on your name, the creator of every living creature. You have opened the eyes of our heart to know you.
You behold the depths, and are eyewitness to everything we have done. You are the saviour of those in despair. You help those in danger.
You are the creator and guardian of all, you multiply the nations of the earth, and you have chosen all who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son.
We beg you, Lord and Master: be our help and encouragement.
Rescue those among us who are facing hard times. Have mercy on the lowly. Lift up the fallen. Show yourself to the needy. Heal the ungodly. Convert the wanderers among your people. Feed the hungry. Release our prisoners. Raise up the weak. Comfort the fainthearted.
Let all unbelievers know that you alone are God, that Jesus Christ is your Son, and that we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.
Amen.
Blessings,
Paul