Australian Baptist Ministries
Australian Baptist Ministries (formerly Baptist Union of Australia) is the oldest and largest national cooperative body of Baptists in Australia. The Baptist Union of Australia was inaugurated on 24 August 1926 at the Burton Street Church in Sydney. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance. History. Baptist work in Australia began in Sydney in 1831, forty-three years after the British penal colony was established. The first preacher was John McKaeg, who conducted the first Baptist service on Sunday 24 April in "The Rose and Crown Inn" on the corner of Castlereagh and King Streets. The  first baptism, of two female congregants, was conducted by McKaeg in Woolloomooloo Bay on 12 August 1832. It was not until 1835 that the first church was established in Hobart Town by Henry Dowling, a strict Calvinist. John Saunders, who had been sent by the Baptist Missionary Society of England to Sydney in 1834, raised the funding to erect a second church which was opened on 23 September 1836. The first state Union was formed in Victoria in 1862. The national Baptist Union was founded in 1926 by representatives from existing state unions. Statistics. According to a denomination census released  in 2020, it claimed 1,021 churches and 76,046 members. Affiliations. Australian Baptist Ministries is a member of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation (formerly Asian Baptist Federation) and the Baptist World Alliance. Ministry arms of ABM include Baptist Mission Australia (formerly known as the Australian Baptist Missionary Society and then as Global Interaction), Australian Baptist World Aid, Baptist Care, and a number of Delegated Bodies which represent communities of practice, developing strategies and resources that benefit the Australian Baptist movement. These include: Crossover Australia, and Crossover Remote (formerly Northreach). The national work is divided among one territory and six state unions , which operate independently, with the national body functioning as a governance council to facilitate collaborative ministries and mission initiatives across the Baptist movement in Australia.