The Upper South Baptist Association has 37 faith communities, the furthest north is in Motueka, the most southern is Oamaru, Greymouth in the west, and 13 within Christchurch on the eastern side of the island.
The network of six Baptist Associations throughout New Zealand connects local churches with other local churches in their region. Associations utilise the experience and expertise of both pastoral and other leaders to inspire, resource and encourage in order to help each local church bring gospel
renewal to people and places in their own local contexts.
Upper South news, stories and media
This is gospel renewal: Brunch Church
New column! Faith communities encouraging New Zealand Baptists with the good news of gospel renewal. Here's what gospel renewal looked like in Riccarton on Sunday.
Outdoor worship services
Ilam Baptist Church brings their worship services out into God’s creation – An interview about the inspiration, the experiences, and the learnings.
Upper South’s new Children & Family Ministry Coach
Get to know Steph Wood, the new Children & Family Ministry Coach for the Upper South Baptist Association.
Getting to know…Rod Robson
Rod is the Chair of the Baptist Assembly Council and Sole Pastor of Opawa Baptist Church, Christchurch.
Resourcing, gathering and creating
The annual update from the Upper South Baptist Association.
Baptist kids enriching worship in Aotearoa
Kids’ Band from South West Baptist Church (Ōtautahi) release 4 singles.
Pondering: Myths about our history
“Ever since I attended a Māori studies class as part of my teacher training in 1989, I have been interested in what really did happen…
Student accommodation: Chester House – Christchurch Central
If you or someone you know is moving to Christchurch to study, Chester House provides a great place for students to call home.
Pondering: How many chaplains does the church really need?
Let’s see the churches welcome chaplaincy in from the cold, someplace out on the fringes, and then let’s send the church, a multitude of trained…
Getting to know…Bradley Nicolson
This week we are getting to know Bradley Nicolson, General Manager of Oxford Terrace Baptist Church’s Kānuka Hopestill Limited.
Venison distributed across North Canterbury
Nearly a ton of free meat was given out through Rangiora Baptist Church’s community trust.
Pentecost Sunday Motueka style
The overwhelming feeling was one of unity between the churches…
Connecting communities through kai
Oxford Baptist Church partners with Foodtogether to help with local food security.
The power of pilgrimage
In 2015 Ian and Alison Syme of Oxford Baptist Church went on a pilgrimage to Turkey and Israel: “Each time we now read about one…
Waitangi Day commemorated at Nelson Baptist Church
We Baptists are he iwi kawenata tatou (we are a covenanting people)...
Our five focuses
An update from Canterbury Westland and Top of the South Baptist Associations for 2022.
Solar success: People, location and renewal in Ōtautahi Christchurch
Sonia from A Rocha’s Eco Church writes about a solar project at Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, now providing around 25% of the church’s energy needs.
Big Dream Day for Nelson Baptist Church
What do you get when you put a congregation, two senior pastors, a national leader, a regional leader and an operations and finance director in…
Getting to know…Samuel Schuurman
This week we are getting to know Samuel Schuurman, a Baptist chaplain in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Discernment part 1: Grieving KTown
NZBMS global workers share their discernment journey in their return to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Alpha on Sunday mornings?!
Read about how Riccarton Baptist Church replaced their Sunday morning church services with breakfast and the Alpha course.
Rachel and Tiaki talk Matariki: God, family, injustice and tradition
Listen in on two people, Tiaki and Rachel, tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti, chatting about the coming season of Matariki, including the prophet Amos who…
Gospel Stories—Sue Avery
Here at Connect in Blenheim Gospel Renewal in our neighbourhood has come from individuals deliberately inviting the Holy Spirit’s presence into their community and then…
‘A Night in Bethlehem’
Hear how Oxford Baptist Church transformed their auditorium and hall into a Nativity-themed bustling ‘night market’ that drew around 500 people.
Oxford Terrace rebuild
On Christmas Eve 2017, Oxford Terrace Baptist Church held their first worship services in their new facilities. Hear more about the journey of their rebuild...
Our Regional Associations
Baptists have used the word ‘association’ for a long time, because local churches want to associate with each other: we are better together!
Each Regional Association has a board or executive elected by the collective of associating churches in each region. Each Association has a Regional Leader who is responsible for supporting and resourcing local churches. The Board or Executive and the Regional Leader work together to facilitate the encouragement and resourcing of churches. The Regional Leader meets regularly with the National Leader and other Regional Leaders.
