The Baptist Churches of New Zealand () is a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Its headquarters are in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, and it is affiliated with the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is an international communion of Baptists, with an estimated 51 million people from 266 member bodies in 134 countries and territories as of 2024. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA accounts f ...

History

Several Baptists settled in New Zealand in the 1840s, but the first Baptist minister, Decimus Dolamore from

Yorkshire, England Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the city of York. The so ...

, did not arrive until May 1851. Dolamore settled in Nelson and was involved in the formation of the first Baptist Church in New Zealand - Nelson Baptist Church - that same year. He was instrumental in obtaining a change in the law to allow Baptist ministers to perform marriage ceremonies; until 1854, only

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priests were allowed to do so. Dolamore later went to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and was the first minister for that congregation. The Canterbury Baptist Association was formed in 1874. This association started the ''New Zealand Baptist'' magazine, which has been published monthly since January 1881. The Baptist Union of New Zealand was formed at Wellington in October 1882. At that time, there were 22 Baptist churches, with 1,890 members. The New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society was formed at the 1885 conference of the Baptist Union. At the 1891 conference, the Union established a plan to divide the country into four districts - "Otago/Southland" (org. 1892), "Auckland" (org. 1892), "

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

& Westland" (org. 1892), and "Central" (org. 1896). Central District was later divided into the Central District Association and the "

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

" Association, and "South Auckland" was formed in 1939. South Auckland was later divided into the "

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

" Association and the "Bay of Plenty" Association (now Bay of Plenty & Eastland). The "Top of the South" Association was formed in 1990. Some groups were called "auxiliary" and some "association", but in 1957, the term "auxiliary" was dropped in favor of the term "association". There are currently 9 associations. According to a census published by the association in 2023, it claimed 240 churches and 20,627 members. In October 2024 the Baptist Churches of NZ, through its local affiliate the Otago and Southland Baptist Association, announced plans to sell the former Valley Baptist Community Centre in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

North East Valley North East Valley (sometimes spelled Northeast Valley, and often abbreviated to NEV) is a suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. Geography North East Valley sits in the valley of the Lindsay Creek, a tributary of the Water of Leith and o ...

. The Valley Baptist Community congregation had closed in August 2021. The Baptist denomination's sales decision was opposed by three community groups (including the Valley Baptist Community Trust) and former Valley Baptist pastor Geoff Pound. The community groups raised NZ$250,000 by mid-May 2025 in a bid to buy the building, whose tender finished on 28 May 2025.

Beliefs

Theologically, the Baptist Churches of NZ member churches are deeply influenced by the charismatic renewal movement, though there is no official position regarding the movement. A study in 1989 indicated that 69% of churches belonging to the Baptist Union identified with the charismatic movement. A smaller portion of member churches are

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

in doctrine. The Baptist Churches of NZ has a policy of ordaining female clergy.

Schools

The Union supports education through

Carey Baptist College Carey Baptist College is a Baptist Bible and theological college in Auckland, New Zealand. It is affiliated with the Baptist Churches of New Zealand. History The college was founded in 1924 as ''New Zealand Baptist Theological College''.Willia ...

in Penrose, Auckland, and Te Whare Amorangi, designed for Māori men and women, in

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...

, Auckland.

Missionary Organization

The Baptist Churches of NZ has a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

organization called the New Zealand Baptist Missionary Society (NZBMS). It consists of four branches: Tranzsend (sending and ministry), Banzaid (aid and development), Mission World (resourcing and mobilisation) and Marketplacers International (business). Tranzsend operates in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, and the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Prominent New Zealand Baptists

*Decimus Dolamore - first Baptist minister in New Zealand *

Thomas Spurgeon Thomas Spurgeon (20 September 1856 – 20 October 1917) was a British Reformed Baptist preacher of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, one of the fraternal twin sons of the famous Charles Spurgeon (1834–92). Life Thomas and his twin brother were bo ...

- successful evangelist and son of famous English Baptist preacher,

Charles Haddon Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...

*Charles Dallaston - "the Father of the Baptist Union" *

John James North John James North (26 July 1871 – 14 July 1950) was a New Zealand Baptist minister, editor and the first principal of the New Zealand Baptist Theological College. He was born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, England, in 1871. He was appointed an Offi ...

- the first principal of the New Zealand Baptist Theological College * Hopestill Pillow - Baptist Missionary in the

Zenana Missions The zenana missions were outreach programmes established in British India with the aim of converting women to Christianity. From the mid 19th century, they sent female missionaries into the homes of Indian women, including the private areas of ...

to India. * Charles Henry Carter (29 October 1828 – 6 July 1914) - a Baptist missionary to Ceylon. Literary Works - Translations. Carter translated directly from the Greek and Hebrew texts, rather than the English. The Sinhalese work was done in vernacular language, that it could embody the message in a dialect that was understood by the people everywhere. His works include: **Sinhalese New Testament 1855 **Sinhalese Book of Psalms 1863 **Sinhalese Old Testament 1869 **English – Sinhalese Dictionary 1881 **Sinhalese – English Dictionary 1889 Towards the end of his life, Carter became Pastor of the Ponsonby Baptist Church in New Zealand. He was the first president of the Baptist Union of New Zealand. Bishop Coppelstone, Anglican Primate of India is said to have described Carter as the "foremost Sinhalese scholar of this age".Lapham, H.A. Public Speech to Bible Translation Society (NZ) 27 April 1903.

References

External links

Official Website for the Baptist Union of New Zealand
{{Authority control Baptist denominations in Oceania Evangelicalism in New Zealand Christian organizations established in 1882 Baptist Christianity in New Zealand