Our Story

The Dalby Baptist movement started out as a Home Mission in the late 1940s.The church was officially formed in 1950 with just 10 Members. As the church began to grow, various ministry groups commenced and became the focus of outreach into the community. The earliest group being the Sunday School which commenced about 1948 in the Oddfellows Hall. The Ladies work commenced in September 1950 with a regular monthly Women’s Guild Meeting. This presented great opportunities for the ladies to actively contribute to the work of the church. Missionaries and the internal functioning of the church were supported though many a street stall. During these early years, services were held in various halls within the community, including the Oddfellows Hall in New Street, the Salvation Army Hall and the Army Drill Hall.

In July 1952, a manse in Drayton Street was acquired. The manse proved to be the focal point of all church activities until an alternate building could be purchased. As time passed an opportunity came for the purchase of a block opposite the manse. The Home Mission had insufficient funds for purchasing this block but a family within the fledgling church purchased it and later the church purchased this block in their own right. A building program commenced in November 1953 and was officially opened in 1954 at an estimated cost of £3,400.  An extension to this building was completed in 1962, which included the first baptistry. (Prior to this, baptisms were performed in the Condamine River or the Myall Creek). As time progressed, so did the independence of the Dalby church and in 1955, Dalby ceased to be a Home Mission Church.

In August 1962, one night the pastor and his family were rudely awoken to find that a wayward truck careered off the road and demolished nearly all their bedroom.

In 1971, a new manse was constructed on a block adjoining the church – probably to ensure that future ministers and their families were not required to live on the main street.

Opportunities for other work saw the commencement of the Girls’ Brigade in 1969 and continued for approximately 5 years. Boys’ Brigade commenced in Dalby during the early 1970s when the Bell Company ceased to function.

In 1975, the 25^th Anniversary celebrations of the church lasted for about 3 days. The Baptist Union held their half yearly Assembly in Dalby with local families billeting visitors and most meals were shared at the church. The celebration activities culminated in a communion service on Sunday morning.

Dalby Baptist Church continued to grow spiritually and numerically and in 1984, the last major extension was undertaken. To achieve this, the old church was demolished to the floorboards and construction began in earnest. Some of those who were part of the original construction now undertook another active role in this extension. During demolition and construction phases, church was held in the Patrick Street Fruit Barn.

During the 1980-90s, additional surrounding properties were purchased until the site covered approximately 1.25 acres.  Each of the buildings were utilised for various groups and there was not a day when something wasn’t happening on the site.

As the church experienced further growth, it became apparent that there was a need to build new facilities. Land was purchased in Hayden Street in February 2002, and draft planning began to take shape.

The church property in Drayton Street was sold in August 2005 and we were given permission from the purchaser to continue meeting there until March 2006. Interim facilities were made available through the provision of an industrial shed that was owned by one of the members.  Affectionately known as ‘The Shed’, this became the church’s home until our current facilities were sufficiently completed 4 years later.

This decade saw Dalby Baptist embark on several mission trips to regional or remote communities.

• 1999 – Northern Territory Mission Adventure (NTMA) (with Ps. Garry Wynn)
• 2005-2009 – SU Woorabinda Rodeo Mission (with Ps. Bruce Eckersley)

The Hayden Street church facilities were officially opened in May 2010. Being the first stage of a much larger vision, the church services are held in the hall of the facility, with a large auditorium planned as the church continues to grow.

This decade saw Dalby Baptist embark on several mission trips both here and abroad:

• 2011 – REACH [South] Africa (with Rev Pieter Henning)
• 2011-2013 – SU Woorabinda Rodeo Mission (with Ps. Bruce Eckersley)
• 2014 – REACH Thailand (with Ps. Frank Hall)

For the next 10 years, the auditorium has provided the backbone for Sunday services and various other ministries.  The auditorium has no fixed seating, so chairs are placed out every Sunday and packed away at the end of the service.  This means greater options for utilising the large space throughout the week, though more work for those who set up the chairs.

The extreme Dalby temperatures in Winter and Summer have required solutions over the years due to no ducted heating/cooling being installed.  In Summer, industrial were are placed around the hall, spray misting systems have been used on the concrete outdoor area, and bottles of cold water passed out on particularly hot days.  Winter has seen the provision of space heaters and patio heaters to provide pockets of warmth on severely cold days.

In 2018, industrial sized air conditioning units were purchased, lifted to the roof in November 2020, and eventually completed for use in 2021.  This was a mammoth task undertaken by a few determined church members and a little outside assistance.

Solar panels were added to the roof of the main building in 2019 and the manse on Thorley Street was also sold that year.

The largest building addition to the church land is the Dalby Baptist Church Food Garden.  This was completed on December 21, 2017, and included a concrete ‘bunker’ to house compost, soil and sand.  Headed up by a congregational member, the Food Garden was funded through community group grants and generous church members.  Participants from Work for the Dole assisted in the production of fruits, vegetables and herbs and much of the produce from the garden was donated to our local ‘Meals on Wheels’ charity.  Local employment agencies were recruited to provide further students willing to enrol and complete a Certificate 2 in Nursery.