Dec. 15 1836 The first Baptist church in Australia, Bathurst Church in New South Wales, was constituted by John Saunders. At an anniversary celebration they give thanks to those pioneer preachers who saw the need to bring the Gospel to this town of 5000 people with its 50 pubs. They gathered around them a core group to establish a church within a year of meeting in the old courthouse. Bathurst was the gateway to the west and it was from these beginnings that the Gospel began spreading further afield in the surrounding area and then further westward. ABHS has Yearbooks from the New South Wales and Queensland Baptist churches.
