25/09/2025
Statement from Friends of Auburn Baptist Church
25 September 2025
Today marked the conclusion of the Auburn Baptist Sewing Ministry, as volunteers and friends packed up the final session from the Harrow Road premises. For seven years, this group has been a place of welcome for culturally and linguistically diverse women — including many from the Muslim community — to gather in a Christian environment of hospitality, care, and friendship. Meeting in Auburn Baptist Church’s second Harrow Road building (not the chapel), the Sewing Group offered a safe, non-traditional setting where barriers could be broken, trust built, and the love of Christ lived out in practical service.
What began in 2018 as a simple outreach grew into a lifeline for dozens of women. It was never just about sewing — it was about Christian conversation, confidence, and community connection. The group gave Muslim women and others from CALD backgrounds the opportunity to step into a Christian space that welcomed them as neighbours, not outsiders. Packing up today was a bittersweet moment: the end of one chapter, but the assurance that the story is not over.
We especially thank Sharon and the many cross-denominational volunteers whose tireless efforts sustained the ministry. Most importantly, we give thanks for the Auburn Salvation Army, who, together with Cumberland Christian Churches and Ministries, have stepped forward to provide a new home for the Sewing Group. Their commitment ensures this vital outreach will continue, not end, and shows the strength of Christian unity in action across Cumberland.
At the handover, the keys to the Harrow Road premises were passed to Sydney Nepali Church Pastor Jeevan Shrestha. His generosity toward Auburn Baptist members and his leadership of a passionate congregation at the site reflect the genuine spirit of Christian partnership and unity.
Auburn Baptist Church was disaffiliated by the Baptist Association in 2022. Its funds and assets were seized, and in 2023 the revitalisation process promised to members was abruptly cancelled without consultation. The replacement multi-church sub-lease has yet to include any fully accredited Baptist Church, and requests by external Baptist leaders to relaunch one in Auburn have been rejected. The congregation’s clear and legally documented instructions — that funds support two neighbouring fully accredited Baptist Churches in the LGA — have not been honoured. An independent external audit remains urgently needed.
Even so, our confidence is not in institutions but in the sovereign God who promises in Isaiah 43:19: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” What looked today like boxes being packed and a room being emptied is, in His hands, the beginning of renewal. God is already preparing fresh works of grace, new witness, and Spirit-filled ministry in Auburn and across Cumberland.
Our prayer is that the Harrow Road property will once again serve as a true Gospel outpost — not simply as a set of buildings, but as a living place of witness, welcome, and service in the heart of Auburn. We long to see a fully accredited Baptist Church restored on this site, carrying forward the legacy of faithful ministry and ensuring that Baptist witness is not absent from this diverse and growing community.
We pray too for a fresh season of Christian mission that reflects Auburn’s unique character: a community shaped by migration, cultural diversity, and strong Muslim presence. The Harrow Road property should be used not only for worship but as a hub of outreach, hospitality, and dialogue, where CALD communities can find dignity, friendship, and support, and where Muslims and people of all faiths and backgrounds can experience the love of Christ in a safe and respectful setting.
We believe that renewed Christian ministry to CALD communities and Muslim neighbours is vital for Cumberland, and that the Harrow Road property has a God-given potential to once again become a place where barriers are broken, bridges are built, and the Gospel is lived out through action and compassion.
Our vision is for Harrow Road to stand as both a Baptist witness and a centre of Christian unity — where churches of many traditions work side by side in partnership, and where the light of Christ shines afresh into one of the most multicultural districts of Australia. May this place once more be dedicated to mission, renewal, and the flourishing of God’s Kingdom, all to the glory of Christ.
