20. BLACKBURN BAPTIST CHURCH

(Updated October 2010)


This pastorate was the 'defining period' of my ministry-life... Eight marvelous years, when a suburban church in Melbourne grew to over 1,000 people, with nine on the pastoral team, 25 on the payroll, and hardly an unhappy moment.

As I think back on our Blackburn days, I'm constantly humbled at the beautiful relationship which exists between a pastoral shepherd and his or her flock - especially when that pastor is involved in significant events like rites of passage for individuals, and couples and families. I remember a father breaking down in tears as he poured out his pain for an hour in my study. Meeting him many years later, he reminded me of the healing he experienced in that shared grief. And the mother with her children who were threatened by a violent husband, and we arranged a secret place for them to stay (the man threatened to come and kill me). 


A good lady in the 1970s wanted to tell the church God had repaired her teeth with pure gold fillings.

I said 'Let's get a Christian dentist to check them out first'

One quick look at them, and the dentist took me aside: 'Rowland, they're amalgum fillings, they're old, and very poor quality'.

She didn't get an opportunity to talk to the church, but she and I prayed together after this, and I thanked God and commended her for her openness to whatever the Lord wanted to do in her life...

Win-win: she became a stronger person/Christian out of this...

The stories are many...

One of the reasons this church was so healthy/happy was that the pastoral staff worked within the areas of their own 'giftings'. Each of us was called to a generalized ministry-position, but in reality wrote our own ministry-descriptions. You get highly motivated colleagues that way. A book by Marcus Burkingham and Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules, (Simon and Schuster, 1999) could have been written by our team. Break All the Rules makes the rather surprising assertion that people are not equally talented and that it is easier to match people’s talents to specific job responsibilities than to teach people to do things for which they have no talent. In other words, it’s easier to develop the talents that are there, than to put qualities into a person which God has not seen fit to give them. 

Another reason this church was healthy is that there was only one 'skeleton in the closet' when I took over from Rev. David Griffiths. It was about an organ, which a good man in the congregation wanted the church to use, but which broke down at inconvenient times (it's now performing excellently at the church we now attend - East Doncaster Baptist). Anyway, one of my first jobs was to take the Church Secretary, Ian Timewell, to visit the organ-donor (!) and apologize for any hurt he might have suffered through his generosity. It was a good visit. 

Ian Timewell was an excellent church secretary. A Government bureaucrat (Department of Railways) he was a very careful and methodical man. At his funeral, held in April 2008 at Box Hill Baptist Church, several people reminded us that Ian was not a person to 'bignote' himself, or 'please himself in the guise of pleasing God.' He was a good man. Thanks, Ian. (And his wife Kath was my first secretary at BBC - a good woman. Thanks to you too Kath).

Another factor: we listened to people. Everyone - well, 99% of attenders - filled in a Care Card each Sunday, with prayer requests, feedback, and questions. On my desk by 11 am Monday mornings I had up to four foolscap pages, single-spaced, with all this valuable information, and in the following Sunday's news-sheet we responded to a lot of it (and elders, pastors and deaconesses were detailed to follow-up people pastorally).  


When the church auditorium was extended the question arose: how shall we clean this larger space each week? Easy solution: pay someone. Better: roster families with kids and others - four family-groups each Saturday - to do it (and, in a larger church, provide an opportunity to get to know each other). It worked well.


There were some 'stand-out' occasions. Like the time we invited a Jewish rabbi (John Levy) and an Arab Christian to debate the The Yom Kippur (Ramadan) War (1973). The Arab brought his friends who constantly heckled the rabbi. (Tom Keyte: 'If they're Christian Arabs, I wouldn't choose to meet the other kind!). 


We weren't ready to have open forums on the issue of homosexuality, but I organized some private seminars at our home where we listened to the stories of gay people. That, remember, was the 1970s: I don't know of any other Baptist Church which discussed this issue back then. 


I remember experiencing goose-bumps as the evening congregation sometimes spontaneously began singing along with the orchestra before the evening service began. The two songs I most associate with BBC days are our Benediction ('Now Unto Him') which we sang after every evening service, and, towards the end of our time there as we prepared to sell-up and go overseas, 'Because He lives I can face tomorrow'.  


And from a perceptive friend:

It would be good to add something about the encouragement of the attenders / church folk / believers in their giftings. The encouragement of diversity and the culture of 'anyone can do it', according to those I've interviewed, resulted in a somewhat chaotic and huge range of ministries, including pioneer social ministries for the homeless etc, organised and run by volunteers (ie unpaid). An egalitarian approach, and an advertisement for the 'believer priesthood'. The challenge to look out for the marginal people was taught and modelled by the pastors. Also important was that the congregation was always challenged to accept each other's differences, eg charismatics and traditional mission-minded Baptists. Diversity was not scary but celebrated.

I had only four regrets leaving BBC. We should have bought the property between our site and Canterbury Road: several acres for future development. We made the mistake of giving the congregation and pros and cons of the purchase instead of providing a firm lead from the top! Subsequently the church paid something in the order of $13 million to relocate and build - on an excellent site in Burwood East. The second regret: I should have been more committed to leading the congregation into an Open Membership position. A few outspoken 'heavies' were against it. See the article on our website for my position on this question. The third: I would have liked a woman added to the pastoral team, but one of our senior pastors (Rev. Tom Keyte) vetoed my suggestion. The fourth, and more serious regret, was that in those heady days I said yes to too many interesting committees and projects and ministries, and should have been more present for our two eldest children. The pain continues - in them and in Jan and me - to this day...


In the 15 years after we left BBC, about 3-400 families and individuals also left (another story, which is not appropriate to opine about here) and I meet them in churches all over the place. A common (fervent) comment: 'We're realizing more and more what good times those Holland Road/ Blackburn Baptist days were!'

Here's a sample of the kinds of emails/letters I've received from many people over the years, during and after our time at 'BBC'. I've reproduced them here with the writers' permission, but decided to remove names and a few other identifying details.

Dear Rowland,

I don’t know if you’ll remember me or my family … but I wanted to write and say thanks for all you did for us many, many years ago.


My name is _ _ _ _ .

My mother _ _ _ _ joined Blackburn Baptist back in the late 70s – early 80s after my father, who was pastoring _ _ _ _ , resigned the church and took up with another woman.

You and your wife were incredible to my mother and her three children (_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ).

As I recall, the church gave my mother a loan to purchase a house with a ridiculously low interest rate of something like 2%. I remember being at your home fairly regularly for meals. The church was wonderful and we loved being part of it. Mum was part of a great cell group – led by the Costellos.

In short, Blackburn Baptist, in those days and under your leadership, with its love and generosity … saved our lives! 

Mum remarried (_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ) while at Blackburn. They are still happily married and living in Brisbane where they attend an AOG church.

I became a journalist with Brisbane’s Courier Mail before taking up a position as youth pastor with an AOG Church. I am currently Senior Associate Pastor at _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

_ _ _ _ and _ _ _ _ are both living in Melbourne and attending an AOG church.

Anyway … it’s been many years since we were at Blackburn under your leadership, but we still talk of those days and the love and grace you showed our family at an incredibly difficult time. I just wanted to say thanks.

Second email:

Hi Rowland,

Yeah, if you wish to publish the email, that's fine.

Dad is on his third marriage!

Actually, his third wife is lovely and I'm very pleased that he seems to have found great happiness in that relationship.

He keeps a Bible by his bed and would still say that he is a Christian. But he certainly isn't attending a church anywhere.

Ironically, his wife is very soft towards the things of God. I have no doubt that at some stage they will both make a commitment to the Lord.

I often marvel at the fact that our family (mum, myself and my sisters) are all passionate about God and very much in love with the church. I look back and think how easy it would have been for us to become extremely cynical about church and the ministry. But we love it ... and I'm certain that it is in no small part due to the wonderful love and support we received from Blackburn when my parent's marriage broke up.

Kind Regards,

[Name withheld]

~~~~

Another:

I'll always remember the way you treated me with respect when I was a young teenager, always had time for my thoughts and ideas, it was very valuable to me. For some reason, I also have a memory of my sister lending you a copy of Dostoevsky's 'The Idiot'. Perhaps it represented a broader view of the world to me, I'm not sure.

I'm no longer part of the Australian Baptist or christian world...

[Name withheld]

~~~~~~~~

Another:

Great uncle Rowland,

You are something of a legend in our family's mythology. I imagine that you will remember _ _ _ _ _ _ and his family from your days at Blackburn Baptist.

I am his oldest son and I am a little older than your Amanda (I believe I danced with her at her yr 12 school prom) and I represent part of your impressive legacy.

You see, you apparently had the good sense to introduce my Dad to Jesus and he had the good sense to bring the discovery to me and I had the good sense to believe it.

Sitting down today to prepare a sermonette (for a retirement ministry my wife and I run) I stumbled across John Mark Ministry's website and saw your name.

So I thought I would drop you a line and let you know that your labours have produced a plentiful harvest in three generations of our family.

I attach a recent picture of my wife (_ _ _ _) and two kids (_ _ _ _ _ _ with a third on the way).

We are all deeply in your debt. Keep up the good fight.

Your (spiritual) great nephew, 


~~~~~


Card in the mail April 2010:


Dear Rowland and Jan, 


Just a thank-you note for the good things that happened at Blackburn Baptist. They were busy busy days for young families and energetic church-men and -women...


God bless you,
****

APPENDIX: CROSSWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Here's an excerpt from the 2007 Crossway Baptist Church annual report, titled "New Beginnings..."

[I've added some comments (though I wasn't officially asked :-) in italics surrounded by square brackets]

"From Firm Foundations."

[First I must say Stuart and his colleagues have done an astonishing job in leading this church from strength to strength, to continue the growth that had been experienced in several previous 'generations' of the church's life. Any comments of mine here must not be read as detracting from my gratitude to God for what has happened].

Twenty five years ago on the first Sunday in February 1983 I [Stuart Robinson] commenced as Senior Pastor of what was then known as Blackburn Baptist Church in Holland Road, Blackburn South. For the previous fourteen years with Margaret and our three children I had been involved in church planting in South Asia.

I knew little or nothing about pastoring in Australia and the church to which I was called had long since been passed by the suburban sprawl which causes most churches to grow. Growth from then on would have to be by intentional evangelism.

[I'd be interested in the percentage that 'intentional evangelism' contributed to subsequent growth: a high exposure site and some excellent programs helped as well].

The church had already plateaued. One reason for this was sociological strangulation i.e. overcrowded facilities.

[I'd left a couple of years before Stuart arrived, and although we'd grown most years during our time at BBC - from several hundred to over 1,000 - yes, our facilities and parking at Holland Rd. were overcrowded].

That barrier was removed when we bought our first 6 acres of land at our Burwood East site in 1990. Subsequent purchases resulted in our buying a total of 15 acres. We moved into the first of our new buildings in September 1995.

[When asked unofficially by folks at BBC I endorsed in principle the move to Burwood East].

There have been many other changes in the last 25 years. These have included:

• On Site prayer – everyday.
• Twenty one day church wide prayer and fasting at the start of each year.

[The prayer-life of the church certainly received a much-needed boost with Stuart's encouragement].

• Growth Groups across the whole church.

[We had up to 60 groups across the whole church: we didn't call them 'growth groups' (a couple were 'recovery/support' groups and were not intended to grow)]

• Heartbeat – intentional practical community help through Growth Groups.
• A food bank – for those in need.
• Intentional outreach through primary and secondary schools, Mothers of Preschoolers, Playgroups, Mainly Music and Alpha.
• Multi site Crossway Movement operations at Burwood East, Cranbourne,
Craigieburn and Moreland.
• Multi lingual congregations in Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, Indonesian and English.
• Intentional Church Planting (10 new congregations and 2 restarts).
• A Counselling Centre which in 2007 conducted 4200 sessions.
• The Crossway Conference to equip, encourage and empower church leaders who every year come from every state of the Commonwealth and overseas.
• Outwardly focussed major Christmas and Easter presentations.
• A cross cultural missions department which currently supports 56 staff doing church planting increasingly among difficult to reach people in the 10/40 window.
• Faith Promise Offerings to support our missionaries.
• Annual missions conferences.
• Regular short term missions trips overseas.
• Student Pastors and Interns from which most of our staff come.
• Upgraded professional qualifications for all staff. When I came I was the only one with accredited tertiary qualifications. Now all pastoral staff are at this standard and five have earned Doctorates.
• Significant Christmas and Easter Appeals to support other churches.

[All good emphases].

• The Bookshop.

[The Bookshop started in our time, and was already quite large by the beginning of the 1980s].

• An Administration Department.
• Incorporation under the Associations Incorporation Act of Victoria.
• Frequently rewritten constitutions to simplify church governance, to remove barriers to growth, to be staff led while remaining congregationally governed.

[I'm not 'up with' these developments, and deliberately don't buy into debates about them: but some feedback which comes to me uninvited is critical of the extent to which Crossway is not 'congregationally governed']

• Amortisation of all church debt.
• 400% growth.

Along the way we have learned that FAITH is spelt R-I-S-K. It is defined as "standing in the midst of miracles always on the edge of disaster". God's work done in God's way has always attracted God's support.

All that He has done in the last 25 years is but a foundation for the even more glorious decades to come under Pastor Dale Stephenson's leadership from 2008 onward.

[I like what I've heard about Dale's first weeks at Crossway].

The future remains as bright as the promises of our Lord, provided we continue to make His last command our first priority.

Margaret and I thank you for the privilege of being door keepers in this house of the Lord from 1983-2008 as He has grown it to become A Caring Community of Prayerful People Empowered and Ministering in Melbourne and Beyond.

[With the qualifications noted above, I would endorse most of what has happened in the last 25 years. I am on public record in lots of places encouraging greater theological as well as ethnic pluralism in our churches, and more intentionally practising Jesus' prophetic emphasis on social justice...

Not that my opinion counts for anything at Crossway these days, and that's as it should be... Only about 50 of the people who were regularly-attending members when I left in 1981 stayed with the church during these challenging times through to the present].

Appendix 2: MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE STATISTICS FOR BBC/CROSSWAY.

Growth/decline of church membership always tells a story. In Australian Baptist Churches 'membership' is taken seriously, so it's very rare that the numbers of members at any given time are higher than attendances. Here's a list of membership by NUMBER OF MEMBERS BBC/CROSSWAY FOR its 54 YEARS until 2007. (The 1, 2, 3, figures are 'years old'):

Total Members: Foundation members 37,
1 50,
2 71.

(George Ashworth pastor):
3 83,
4 81,
5 94,
6 96,
7 118,
8 131,
9 142.

(David Griffiths pastor):
10 168,
11 215,
12 235,
13 258,
14 267,
15 303,
16 309,
17 344,
18 338,
19 340.

(Rowland Croucher senior pastor):
20 379,
21 443,
22 505,
23 532,
24 534, (a plateau reflecting a year of relocation to a High School during building extensions),
25 608,
26 635,
27 676,
28 772.

(Interim period after the Crouchers left): 29 732.

(Stuart Robinson senior pastor):
30 721,
31 764,
32 743,
33 786,
34 736,
35 709,
36 709,
37 743,
38 645,
39 651,
40 649,
41 664,
42 660,
43 668,
44 712,
45 770,
46 858,
47 966,
48 1068,
49 1187,
50 1281,
51 1283,
52 1293,
53 1379,
54...


Shalom/Salaam/Pax! Rowland Croucher