More than 300 people packed into the King’s College auditorium for the anniversary service, including several who had been involved in the church’s leadership over the past 50 years.
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The anniversary service was part of a weekend of celebrations that included a thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night attended by 190 people.
An open church on Saturday at the Koroit Street building also attracted about 200 people to see photographic displays and memorabilia from the past 150 years.
The church also released a book on the history of the church over the past 50 years.
The Reverend David Hodgens said the Warrnambool Baptist congregation was a strong and stable one and comprised about 240 people.
“It has a very healthy interest in the world and the community round about it,” Mr Hodgens said.
It ran a range of ministries, from homes for the elderly to those for youth, and for children and families to allow people to not only love God but to also care for people, he said.
Mr Hodgens said the Baptists took a “grass roots” approach in their relationship with Christ, with local churches making decisions in a local context.
In his statement in the church’s anniversary newsletter, Mr Hodgens says the Christian community in general faces declining attendances and lower levels of participation. “Our relative affluence and untroubled lifestyle has not caused us to turn to God in thanks, but away in selfishness,” he writes.
“In an increasingly un-Christian and even anti-Christian context, we might anticipate our faith to be questioned and our testimony challenged,” Mr Hodgens says.
But he says God had journeyed with his people through similar challenges throughout history and would guide them through further challenges.
ehimmelreich@fairfaxmedia.com.au
