Waikato and Bay of Plenty & Eastland Baptist Associations
An update from Regional Leader Peter Foster for 2022.
What a good year it has been! I have enjoyed settling into the role this year. Highlights have been meeting up with our church pastors/leaders within the two regions. I have enjoyed spending some Sundays being ministered to and preaching within the different churches.
Our pastors and leaders work hard. I want to acknowledge their efforts in their respective churches and the broader communities they represent.
We are working on how our churches can continue bringing gospel renewal to the communities we represent. I feel privileged to hear some of the stories of what is happening in people’s lives across our region.
We have had some new pastors starting in the region and a couple of churches looking for new pastors.
It has been a delight to see attendance numbers improve as we get settled in with our new normal after COVID-19 requirements.
An absolute delight is seeing regular baptisms happening. Every baptism is worth a massive celebration, I reckon.
Our Regional Hui was very well attended and was inspirational. It was great to hear speakers from our Baptist National team and a number from our region. Matamata hosted us well, and there was a sense that we are in this together. It was awesome to be a part of it.
The monthly cluster meetings with our pastors are a highlight for me. I enjoy opening scripture with them, praying with them, talking about various topics, and, of course eating with them. I want to thank the pastors for their commitment to our clusters.
Some of the things on our radar are:
- Church planting
- Continued evangelism and mission
- Strengthening discipleship
- Developing new leaders
- Lowering our churches’ average age
Each is a challenge, but it is great to see that all our churches are willing to talk and work through these important topics. I love working in these two regions. God is at work.
This update is from the 2022 Annual Report of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand, which you can view here.
