About Earlwood
Our Values
Faith First: We aren’t about rules and appearances of doing the right thing. We want to live a life of faith as we respond to God’s initiative in our lives. We love because he first loved us. We extend grace because we are a forgiven people who continue to need grace.
Known and Loved: We are all broken people in need of love. We believe that healing happens when we belong to a community that both knows us and loves us.
Connected Communities: We don’t live in a church bubble. It is important that we cultivate healthy relationships with people in our workplaces, families and neighbourhoods.
Our History
1928-1990: A legacy of evangelism and outreach
On 12th November 1928, Earlwood Baptist Church was planted to be a ministry to the growing suburbs that were coming up in the Earlwood area. The church was healthy and provided much needed care and fellowship to the hurting in the community.
1990: A legacy of unity
In 1990, a growing Greek ministry under the leadership of Rev. Michael Glinatsis was sent from Ashfield Baptist with the vision to strengthen the work here and reach the local area. An intense evangelistic program of tract distribution, newspaper evangelism, film outreaches, hospital and home visitation/translation and social work assistance was implemented.
As the work increased and the needs grew. The then Ashfield Greek Baptist Church and The Earlwood Baptist Church took a step of faith and merged creating the union of two fellowships and became known as Earlwood Baptist Church including Greek Baptist Church. From 1983 to 2006 EBC ran a Greek Gospel radio program between 2 to 5 times a week called “The Voice of the Good Samaritan” on 2NBC Station. Hundreds of free Greek New Testaments were distributed to enquirers.
2007: A legacy of innovation
In January 2007, initiated by Rev. Michael Glinatsis, Hellenic Christian Media, a Greek Christian Television program called “Words of Hope” commenced. This program was broadcast every Saturday morning at 8.00 am and Sunday morning at 6.00 am on TVS Digital 44 to a diverse audience. After having aired 465 episodes the programs ceased from 20th December 2016.
2018: A legacy of new beginnings
As the congregation continued to age and the composition of the area changed, attendance started to decline. However, building from a rich legacy, and still passionate to see many reached for Jesus. The leadership of EBC sought the Lord in prayer and reached out to the Baptist Union of NSW for help. The Association responded, itself on a new journey of planting 1000 healthy new churches and walking with established churches through revitalization. This led to Rev. Ken Kamau being sent as the Senior Pastor to shepherd EBC through the next season of ministry. In the next few years, the church went through multiple shifts, going online for the first time especially through the Covid years and establishing our identity as one church that speaks multiple languages united under one God.
In 2024, Rev. Ken Kamau handed over the role of Pastor to Rev. Billy Tang to continue the ministry of shepherding God’s people.
After 90 years, it feels just like the start, we celebrate a rich legacy of great leadership and faithfulness to the call of God. We continue to pursue God’s purposes at EBC and follow the leading of the Great Shepherd himself, Jesus Christ.
Earlwood Baptist Church is affiliated with the Baptist Association of NSW & ACT and is also a part of the Transform Southern Sydney Network of Baptist Churches.
