The President of the Baptist Churches of New Zealand is formally an Officer of the Baptist Union and takes on the voluntary role for a year. Susan Osborne was elected in November 2023 and is a member of Trinity Baptist Church, Titahi Bay, Wellington. For more information about the President, click here.
It was good to finally go to sleep in my own bed on Sunday night. I’d been away from home for 40 days and while the weather is warmer up north, there’s nothing quite like being home again! Even in the wind and the rain.
After the Northern Regional Hui, I spoke at the first of four churches in the Auckland area, each very different from the others.
The first was Albany Baptist Church, a church that has been in the Albany area for over 20 years but has never had any permanent home. After the service, I was privileged to ‘cut the ribbon’ on their new office space. This physical presence in the community will hopefully highlight their presence there.
I spent the next weekend on Waiheke Island – what a price to pay for speaking at their Sunday service. Such an amazing eclectic group of people led by the amazing Roi Nu Moran. She is a gift to this community with her love for Jesus and people. This church doubles in size over the summer with the many visitors holidaying on the island.
Waiheke Island Baptist Church service
I was up early the following Sunday to be at the Otahuhu Community Baptist Church Tamil service at 8:15!! And it was cold that morning. I loved this service as it was in an Indian language and made me feel ‘at home’ – our children went to school in Tamil Nadu, and our youngest son currently lives there. It was just as well the congregation could understand English very well, as I can’t understand a word of Tamil! The worship was a mixture of English and Tamil songs. I could hear the difference in their worship when they were praising God in their mother tongue – heavenly! After the service, I enjoyed some vadai and coconut chutney and some sweets to celebrate a birthday.
This service was followed by the English service, which was a very different experience. It was not as formal and had a very diverse group of people, demonstrating that the gospel is for all. The pastor, who did not know me, had done his homework and read up about me. In his introduction, he shared how he had read “she was the volunteer Baptist archivist for a few years”, only he read it as “volunteer Baptist activist!!” I thought that was probably true too.
The next Sunday was meant to be free as my husband John returned from his time in India and Bangladesh on the Saturday night before. But I was on duty for Arotahi (I couldn’t turn down the missionary society) at Northgate in Silverdale. This church meets in a rugby club and has a much younger congregation than many of the churches I had been in. One of the good things here was that after the service, while I was busy talking to folk, the person in charge of the coffee machine made me a coffee and brought it to me – I really needed that coffee!
The following week, we were up in Northland, and on Sunday, I spoke at Kaikohe Baptist Church. This church has doubled in size since our last visit three years ago. It is now filled with Maaori and Pakeha, young and old, children and older folk – what a joy to have time here with Rewai and Josie Te Kahu and their congregation. They have a well-attended lunch after their Sunday service each week and will soon need to put out more tables and chairs.
One of the things I love about being Baptist is the diversity of our pastors and congregations. We welcome all comers and seek to share the love of Jesus and His story of gospel renewal with everyone.
Photos: Supplied by Susan Osborne. Cover photo: Susan Osborne with Roi Nu Moran.
