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General News

5 March, 2025

Times change, faith continues

In the early days of settlement in the district of Rainbow people brought with them a sense of faith and hope.


The old Baptist Church is now a B&B.
The old Baptist Church is now a B&B.

They were inspired by their trust in God and motivated by tenacity and hard work.

While the early settlers changed the country of the first people, they also laid the foundation for life today as we know it.

Dedicated to faith and family, as well as building homes and community facilities they built churches and halls where, in community, people expressed their faith.

The Baptist denomination was well represented among the settlers and Baptist worship
services have been held regularly in Rainbow since 1891/1893, churches having been built across the district.

Over the years, as culture and lifestyles have changed fewer people follow the faith of their forebears.

The result has been closures of churches, which led to the formation in 1975 of  the Mallee Parklands Baptist Church, comprised of the Turriff, Speed, Hopetoun and Rainbow congregations.

In the years since, the Turriff and Speed churches have closed.

The Southern Mallee Co-Operative Parish (SMCP) was formed in 1986 between the Mallee Parklands Baptist and Uniting Church congregations of Hopetoun and Rainbow, with worship and witness continuing in both towns today.

After 50 years, Mallee Parklands Baptist Church has decided to close, and a service of closure will be held at SMCP Rainbow Church on Sunday March 30 at 11am. 

A shared lunch will follow.

All interested people are welcome to come along and share.

Most importantly, the church and its members continue to worship together, as the SMCP and anyone interested in pursuing the Christian faith is invited and welcome to join and find out more about the faith that sustained many who went before us and sustains many still today.

- REV. SUSAN PEARSE

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