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PASTOR NATHAN FROM PASTOR NATHAN

Our story as a church is captured by the words of Jesus in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We are so aware that we can be busy with many good things but, unless we remain close to Christ and follow His plans, we can do nothing of lasting fruit.

For this reason we have been waiting on God together to seek His heart for the visions and plans He has for us as a church moving forward. Thank you to all those who have joined with us as we have been praying over the visions for the new financial year and have sought together to hear God’s voice.

Our vision theme for this financial year is Multiply coming from the words recorded in Acts 6:7

“The word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly…”

Our God is a multiplying God and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was all about seeing the work of the kingdom multiplied. In a similar way God calls us to have a multiplying mindset when it comes to the expansion of His kingdom.

If you are thinking multiplication rather than addition it is a different mindset. It means investing in the longer term rather than only short-term outcomes. It means a focus on training, equipping and mobilising many, rather than only a few. It means greater generosity and releasing of the resources and gifts God has entrusted to us. It involves bolder faith, risk and trust in the multiplying work of the Holy Spirit to do far beyond what we could do alone.

Listed in this booklet are some of the Multiply visions which God is calling us to for the year ahead. They are once again faith stretching but I am glad this is the case. We desire to be a people who walk by faith with a heart to be part of a God only story which brings Him all the glory.

I also want to take this opportunity to highlight and recognise all the ongoing ministries that continue to be such a key part of our outreach and spiritual growth as a church. These include everything from our kids and youth ministries to our Inspire ministry, as well as our care ministries, cross cultural ministries, prayer meetings, along with our amazing toilet team, venue cleaning teams and grounds team. Where would we be without their heart to serve and bless others! There is so much that happens week in and week out by faithful servant volunteers and every part of the body is so important in seeing His plans fulfilled.

As we step out in faith for the year ahead there are two key financial goals to resource the ongoing ministry and the visions outlined:

1 The first is to meet the new budget goal of $82,523 per week which is a 6.85% increase above last year’s budgeted weekly giving.

2 The second is reaching our target of $275,000 for our “Multiply” fund by 30 June 2026.

Both financial goals are outlined in more detail in the following pages, and we pray that those who are able in this season will help support the financial resourcing of these visions.

The task ahead is great with millions of people in our nation and world still to hear about the good news of life in Jesus. Thankfully we serve a big God who has poured out His Spirit on all believers so that His kingdom can multiply and reach every person. All that God needs is people who are available and willing to step forward in faith and obedience.

Our heart is to be counted among those who respond in obedience and faith and witness in our generation, a mighty reviving work of His Holy Spirit transforming our community, this city and beyond.

Together let’s pray and sow in faith for a multiplying work of the Holy Spirit among us.

“You say, 'It's still four months until harvest time.' But I tell you, open your eyes! Look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest right now”

(John 4:35).

GIVING THANKS

As we look back over the past financial year we see so much of the Lord’s amazing work and our hearts are filled with thankfulness and joy. Below is a list of some of these blessings which focus on the outworking of last year’s visions.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DISCIPLESHIP SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND DISCIPLESHIP

The Equip Leadership Course launched in 2025, with over 60 participants and 10 dedicated mentors. With a second cohort still to come, we anticipate more than 100 people will have been equipped through this transformative journey.

The Equip Seminars have welcomed an average of 80 attendees each session. These gatherings have deepened understanding across a variety of important topics.

The Online’s ministry reach continued to grow. In a recent 90 days period 5,366 new people watched services (equivalent to that many new people walking through the doors) and there were 3,358 returning viewers (the online’s congregation size).

On Easter Resurrection Sunday, there was great joy with 26 people, (ranging from 14 - 83 years of age), being baptised. During the past 12 months, the largest number in the history of Bridgeman were baptised, with 125 people testifying to their faith in Christ.

Alpha continued to multiply with more than 290 people participating in courses held at the church and in cafes, homes and workplaces, and the Alpha online grew to 10 participants.

Omega Discipleship Training was launched to help believers grow into disciple-makers.

Over 100 people joined the online zoom prayer meeting held during Cyclone Alfred.

Powerful prayer seasons and Outpouring nights continued. A special highlight was hosting One Prayer, the first combined Baptist Churches prayer night. 800 people attended in person and the two-hour prayer service was streamed to Baptist churches throughout the State.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, CHURCH PLANTING AND NETWORKING

The Bridgeman City Church congregation began meeting with Albion Baptist Church on a Sunday morning. Pastor Dan Moura began working alongside Pastor Nick Lightfoot in this church revitalization partnership. New families from the community have joined this work, Alpha at Albion has been launched, and site upgrades are underway.

As part of our regional churches' partnerships, mission teams from the church travelled to Longreach, Biloela and Coral Coast to provide ministry support for family camps being held by Baptist churches in these communities.

Following floods in northern and western Queensland $15,000 was released for distribution by Baptist churches to those in need.

MISSIONS AND GLOBAL OUTREACH MISSIONS AND GLOBAL OUTREACH

Solomon Islands mission teams were sent in July and December completing construction projects and ministry. Over $30,000 was given to Solomon Island projects including Bible school tuition medical clinic upgrades and women's facilities

Operation Christmas child provided 650 shoeboxes and raised $8,000 for costs of distribution and discipleship materials included with every box. In the past year over 1,400 letters were signed in support of imprisoned Christians. News was also received concerning the release of one of these prisoners.

Over $500,000 was distributed to missions and outreach, including Cambodia, the Middle East, and local chaplaincy.

Over $27,000 was raised through the Missions Month Offering and distributed to ministries in Ukraine, Cambodia, and the Middle East.

The interns travelled to Barbados to share in the mission activities of the ship Logo Hope where Nick Dux serves, and a team of men travelled to South Asia to minister alongside Empart workers.

The Christmas appeal raised $20,000 for Empower Overseas Aid supporting nurse training and disability aid in Asia, and $7,500 was sent to support the peoples of Myanmar who were impacted by a devastating earthquake.

COMMUNITY CARE AND COMPASSION COMMUNITY CARE AND COMPASSION

Bridgecare packed and delivered 3,500 Christmas Hampers to families in need, with over $100,000 being raised for this purpose.Around 20-40 hampers were given away every week.

Bridgecare represented by Pastor Jodi became the Westfield Local Hero winner for 2025. This resulted in Bridgecare receiving a $20,000 donation.

Members of the weekly Streetlight communities celebrated Christmas parties in style and a significant group from Streetlight were warmly welcomed at a Sunday service on 1st June 2025.

Around 80-100 meals were prepared in Bridgeman’s kitchen and served in various locations to assist those in need and $5000 was used for grocery vouchers.

Bridgecare moved into their newly constructed Bridgecare shed with community work teams completing 5-8 jobs every week. A freezer container was installed to trial an escalation of the hamper ministry with the inclusion of fresh foods.

Bridgecare conducted the following courses: Coach Family, Coach Financial, Circle of Security Women’s Wellbeing and multiple cancer care packages supported those facing the cancer journey.

Soul Op Shop released $50,000 to global and local ministries.

Through the Easter Appeal, $19,000 was given to Carinity’sInside Out

Prison Chaplaincy and additional funds were directed to Dhiiyaan’s Ministry to young people in youth detention.

Over $478 000 was released through Bridgecare (including $100,000 for True Fella supporting young people in detention) and gifts for Bridgecare over the year totalled $504,000.

STAFF DEVELOPMENTS STAFF DEVELOPMENTS

There was further investment in the children’s ministries with Katie Goopy being appointed as a Pastoral Intern for Children,and Lilliana Langford commencing as a part-time Children's Worker.

Caleb Gough was also appointed as a pastoral intern (Missions and Young Adults) as part of the continuing commitment to raise future ministry leaders.

There were also appointments to ensure work levels remained manageable for various church ministries: Liz Muller strengthened the finance team with her accounting skills as a part time Accounts officer, Kata Aguilar took up the Catering support role following the conclusion of Jen Neish’s valued ministry in this capacity and Lyndel Valentine joined the Soul Café Team.

CHURCH LIFE AND MINISTRIES

The Seniors’ Christmas High Tea blessed over 1,000 guests with hospitality and gospel hope.

The Christmas Lights Festival welcomed over 9,000 people, with 550 volunteers serving meals, drinks, joy and the Good News.

New Christian Religious Instruction programs launched at local schools with strong community support.

The English Online Ministry continued to grow with stories of transformation and connection.

The Naomi’s Group for Widows celebrated nearly a decade of ministry and a leadership transition.

Over 400 children attended the MegaBuzz Holiday Program with wonderful volunteer support and gospel impact.

A new Grade 6 transition program was introduced to help children move into youth ministry.

Grandparents’ Sunday in November celebrated with Dan Warlow who led a joy filled intergenerational service with both children and adults responding to the gospel.

In May 2025, 82 families gathered for worship, fun, and deep connection at the Families Camp.

Mums in the Making, supporting first-time mothers commenced, as did a group for parents who had lost a child.

PROPERTY AND TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Child safety fencing was installed in the back car park area near the basketball court and also at the entrance to our bridge kid zone from the main courtyard.

A new handball court was completed for children and youth next to the basketball court.

There were a number of kitchen renovations, new doorway, removal of cupboards, new servery windows, which improved the flow and comfort for workers in the kitchen.

The new Bridgecare shed was lined and sealed, fitted out with shelves, air conditioning, security, surrounding paths and landscaping projects were completed to make this such a useful space for the ministries of Bridgecare.

A new cement pad was poured behind the Bridgecare shed for the location of a hired container fridge/freezer as Bridgecare investigates the possibility of a food pantry.

The old Bridgecare shed received new air conditioning and began to be used for additional selling and display space for the Op shop. (Further renovations are planned.)

A new sound desk area was built in A2 and technical upgrades have commenced.

The $8 million loan used to construct A1 and purchase 181 Elizabeth St, has now been reduced to $4.2 million, shaving 7 years off the original 20-year term.

VISIONS

25/26

We are living in a very strategic time in history with an amazing opportunity to reach more people than ever before. We don’t want to look back wishing we had made more of the opportunity before us. With this in mind we want to step forward in faith and obedience using the gifts and resources God has entrusted to us.

Outlined are some of the vision’s God is placing in our hearts for the year ahead.

PRAYER

MULTIPLY PRAYER

Prayer has always been the foundation of our church, and we are aware that in this season when the Holy Spirit is moving the greatest work we can do is to engage in more prayer. It was Oswald Chamber who said, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work.” Prayer is going to be central to the multiplying and reviving work of the Holy Spirit among us.

Below are some of the ways we are looking to Multiply Prayer in the year ahead:

Commence additional weekly prayer meetings online and in person

We currently hold 10 weekly prayer meetings. We have a vision to grow this number of weekly prayer meetings in the year ahead. We will be looking at creative and fresh ways to make these prayer meetings as accessible as possible both for online and in person.

Launch Next Generation led prayer times

God has his hand on the next generation to play a key part in revival. There is an awakening happening among the next generation with church attendance quadrupling among youth and young adults in the last 6 years. We are looking to create spaces for the Next Generation to lead us as a church in prayer.

Commit to Open Heaven City Wide Prayer Event

In April this year 4000 believers from across Brisbane gathered at Nissan Arena for a powerful night of unified prayer for revival for our city. As a church we have been asked to play a part in this vision going forward. We know there is great power in unified prayer and we are asking for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit across Brisbane and beyond in the lead up to the Olympics in 2032.

MULTIPLY DISCIPLESHIP

MULTIPLY DISCIPLESHIP MULTIPLY

Our vision verse from Acts 6:7 is centred on the multiplication of disciples. Our heart as a church is to keep multiplying disciples with a heart to encounter more of God’s presence and grow deeper in their walk with Jesus. Some of the ways we are looking to Multiply Disciples in the next 12 months include the following:

Multiply Connect Groups

As more people are coming to faith and connecting into church we have recognised the need to multiply our connect group networks. This will include identifying more Connect Group leaders and hosts including online connect groups, make joining a connect group as easy as possible and providing additional support to our connect group network.

Church Network Ministry & Mission Experiences

We have seen the discipleship blessing for people involved in our church network ministry trips and mission experiences. These faith stretching experiences have provided ideal environments for personal spiritual awakening and personal discipleship. We are planning to further expand these opportunities as we look to multiply discipleship.

Equip Discipleship Opportunities

This year we launched our Equip Leadership Program and Equip Seminars. These have both provided excellent opportunities for discipleship. We are planning to continue to develop these programs in the year ahead.

Sunday Afternoon Discipleship Hub

We are exploring the possibility of running a discipleship hub on a Sunday afternoon at the church that runs in conjunction with our Sunday Afternoon Alpha Course. This time has worked well for Alpha and our Beyond Alpha discipleship courses. We will be looking into developing this model further to offer discipleship courses particularly for new believers.

MULTIPLY CARE FOR THOSE IN NEED MULTIPLY CARE FOR THOSE IN NEED

Another vision we have for the year ahead is to multiply care for those in need across our community. Across scripture we see God’s heart is for the needy, disadvantaged and forgotten. His call is for us as His followers to show His love in practical ways and be His hands and feet.

Below are some of the ways we are seeking to Multiply God’s love and care across our community in the year ahead:

Container Freezer for Emergency Food Relief

Bridgecare are trialling providing more emergency food relief by hiring a container freezer for 12 months to be installed behind the Bridgecare Shed. This will enable them to hold more food for those in need in our community as well as having capacity to distribute to community centres and other care organisation in our region providing emergency food relief. Some of the funding for this is coming from the Westfield Local Heroes grant money that we received last year after we were voted by the community to receive this gift. If the trial is successful there is an option to purchase the freezer container as an ongoing ministry.

Explore the Possibility of a Food Pantry Ministry

Bridgecare are also exploring the possibility of providing a food pantry ministry on site and the Bridgecare Shed in the future. This would mean people could come at certain times to access food items as well as be ministered to wholistically in community.

Grief and Loss & Grief, Loss and Dementia Course

Recently a number of our Bridgecare team have taken part in a 5 week Grief and Loss Course facilitated by Blue Care here at the church. In the year ahead Bridgecare are looking to run this Grief & Loss Course as well as an 8 week Grief, Loss and Dementia course for people in our community.

Streetlight Multiplying

More recently our Streetlight team have been working alongside some in our church who have been providing care to those in need in the Lawnton area. We are continuing to look at whether God is calling us to multiply the Streetlight model into Lawnton also.

Continue to Support Existing Bridgecare Ministries

With rapidly growing needs across our community we are also looking to continue to develop and further support our existing Bridgecare ministries including Streetlight, Coach Mentoring, Circle of Security Parenting, Bridgecare Community Teams, Hamper ministry and more.

MULTIPLY LOCAL OUTREACH MULTIPLY LOCAL OUTREACH

Nicky Gumbel the founder of Alpha has been quoted as saying, “This is the greatest opportunity for evangelism in our generation”. There is an increasing spiritual hunger and openness in our culture that we want to respond to by multiplying the ways we are reaching out to our local community.

Below are some of the ways we are looking to Multiply Local Outreach:

Multiply Alpha Courses through added personnel support

The Alpha course continues to be used powerfully by God to help people find faith in Jesus. Recently Alpha celebrated its one millionth Alpha participant here in Australia. As it turns out Baptist churches are now the largest users of Alpha in Australia. Moving forward we are looking to provide more personnel support to our Alpha focus so that we can keep expanding the reach of these courses.

Provide ongoing Alpha Training to support Alpha in the Wild

Last year we launched the Alpha in the Wild vision equipping people to run their own Alpha course wherever God has called them and strategically placed them. It has been exciting to hear stories of people running their own Alpha Courses in their workplace, school community or neighbourhood. We have a plan to keep providing ongoing church wide Alpha Training so that even more people are equipped to run Alpha in the Wild.

Complete the Soul Op Shop Expansion

The Soul Op Shop continues to be an amazing outreach to our local community. There are regular stories of people encountering God’s love, being prayed for and beginning a journey of faith through finding Soul. Many others are using this as a bridging space with family and friends to introduce them to church. We have plans to complete a renovation of the Old Bridgecare Shed to provide additional selling/display space which will enable us to provide more seating in the main house. This will also double up as a new venue space for courses and training.

Support Sent Conferences

Pastor David has been facilitating Sent Conference and Sent Youth Conference with a heart to inspire and equip every believer to have an impact on their frontline. This year we will be again supporting this vision both locally and in North Queensland.

MULTIPLY CROSSCULTURAL OUTREACH MULTIPLY CROSSCULTURAL OUTREACH

God’s heart is for the whole world and the gospel is good news for every nation, people group and language. There are millions in our world who are yet to hear the good news or have the opportunity to read a bible in their own language. As a church we want to continue to keep a global focus and be part of God’s global mission heart.

Some of the ways we are looking to Multiply Cross-Cultural Outreach include the following:

Strengthen English Outreach Ministries

We’re encouraged by the growth in attendance across our English teaching ministries. Moving forward, we’ll continue strengthening these teams and look to build stronger connections with our church’s cultural connect groups to help foster deeper relationships and spiritual growth.

Add More Cultural Connect Groups

Our existing Cultural Connect Groups have been a great blessing, bringing people to faith and into a loving, supportive community. As our church family continues to grow, we see exciting potential to launch more of these groups, centred around emerging cultures and languages within our congregation.

Increase Overseas Mission Team Opportunities

Our overseas mission teams have offered powerful opportunities to serve crossculturally while deepening our understanding of God’s heart for the nations. These trips have also played a vital role in leadership development. We’re intentionally growing partnerships with mission organisations and exploring ways to increase the number of teams we send, enabling more people to engage in global mission work.

Continue Investing in Missions Pathways

Following recent short-term mission trips, three of our young adults are currently serving or preparing for longer-term mission work overseas. These experiences are inspiring greater interest in cross-cultural ministry. We’re committed to investing further in mission pathways—creating more opportunities both locally and globally for people to explore and step into mission.

Expand Cross-Cultural Leadership

We’re expanding our leadership capacity in cross-cultural mission. Fernando Moura has joined the team part-time as a pastor, and Caleb Gough, our Pastoral Intern for Missions and Young Adults, has increased from two to three days per week. Fernando brings over 40 years of missions experience with WEC, having served in Brazil and led WEC teams in South Africa. We’re deeply thankful for the wisdom and passion they bring to strengthen our outreach.

MULTIPLY TRAINING AND EQUIPPING MULTIPLY TRAINING AND EQUIPPING

A key aspect of seeing the multiplying work of God across our community and beyond is seeing a multiplying in the training, equipping, empowering and mobilisation of all the gifts of the body. This year we were excited to launch the first intake of our Equip Leadership course and commence our Equip Seminars with a warm response. Over the next 12 months we are planning to multiply Training and Equipping across the church through the following:

Further Develop the Equip Leadership Course

This semester we will be launching our second intake for the Equip Leadership course. We will be using our learnings and feedback to keep developing this course to be as accessible and effective as possible.

Launch Equip Ministry Stream

We are also looking to add another stream with a more specific focus on church ministry for people who have a sense of calling to ministry and church planting in the future.

Expand Equip Seminars

There has been an encouraging response to our Equip Seminars with 3 seminars already hosted this year and a large number participating. We are planning to continue to expand the offering of these seminars and further develop this vision.

Pastor Nathan Allocating Time for Training Future Ministry Leaders

A key aspect of training effective leaders for the future is more experienced leaders taking the time to mentor and invest in others. Pastor Nathan is working towards allocating 0.5 days per week in the next 12 months to focus on developing future ministry leaders as part of the multiplying ministries of Bridgeman.

Explore the Possible Construction a Kids and Ministry Training Centre

There is a growing sense of God calling us to invest in the training and development of future leaders for ministry. Part of enabling this into the future is creating a space on our site to facilitate this ministry training. In the year ahead we are exploring the possibility of building a new Kids and Ministry Training Centre in the future.

MULTIPLY NEXT GENERATION MINISTRIES MULTIPLY NEXT GENERATION MINISTRIES

From the outset our vision as a church has been to see the next generation raised up with a heart to serve and follow Jesus. We are exciting to see growth in our kids and youth ministries with more young people coming to faith and more exploring faith. All the predictions were that this generation would walk away from church but in fact just the opposite is happening. This generation is hungrier for God and bolder in their faith and the predictions are turning around with church attendance among youth and young adults quadrupling over the last 6 years. We believe this next generation will be central in a reviving work of the Holy Spirit and plan to multiply next generation ministries through the following:

Launch Additional Sunday Buzz Age Stream

with the growing numbers of children involved in Sunday Buzz our Bridgekids team are trialling the launch of an additional Sunday Buzz age stream. This will help make the group sizes smaller and more welcoming as well as enabling programs and content to be tailored for more specific age groups. The new age streams will include Big Buzz (Grades 3-6) Medium Buzz (Grades 1-2), Junior Buzz (Kindy and Prep) and Creche (age 0-4).

Renovate The Chapel for BridgeKids Ministry

We have plans for a renovation of the Chapel to enable the expansion of our Sunday Buzz ministry. This will include building chair storage enclosures, replacing the carpet and removing the existing stage to increase the usuable floor area for activities.

Additional Staff Support

This financial year we will be allocating some additional staff support for our Bridgekids and Switch Youth ministries. As these ministries continue to grow we have recognised the opportunity to build the teams providing safe and caring environments for participants to flourish in and ensure we are meeting all the relevant guidelines. This includes Pastor Mitch moving from 4 days to full time from the 1st July and the appointment of part time kids workers for Sunday Buzz.

Explore the Possible Construction a Kids and Ministry Training Centre

In 2022/23 we commissioned a Master Plan for our entire church site for future development. This process identified the at the time that our next building need would be the construction of a Kids and Ministry Training Centre adjacent to A1. This would provide additional space for our Bridgekids ministry to continue to grow and reach even more. With the faster than expected growth in our Next Generation Ministries and the space pressures on our current facilities this need for space has become a priority. In the next 12 months we are seeking to raise the funds to engage consultants to explore further the possibility of constructing a new Kids and Ministry Training Centre soon.

Prayer and Share for Parents of Children with a Disability

recently our Bridgekids team have launched a new vision called Prayer and Share for Parents of Children with Disability. This is a monthly space for connection, care and support as we continue to make our BridgeKids ministries welcoming and caring environments for all children and parents.

MULTIPLY ONLINE OUTREACH MULTIPLY ONLINE OUTREACH

We have continued to see God’s hand of blessing on our online ministries with thousands of people being reached each week both locally and globally. Across history God has always used technology to advance the gospel including the roman roads, the printing press and today the internet. We believe we are only just beginning to see the potential reach of this ministry and are looking to multiply our online outreach through the following:

Investigate a 24/7 Online Worship and Service Stream

Currently our gifted online team are exploring the possibility of being able to provide a 24/7 worship and service stream of our existing worship and preaching content. With the latest advancements in AI technology and through the gifts of our team the potential reach of this is limitless.

Additional Tech and Production Support

this financial year we have also made provision for additional staffing of 3 days p/w to provide added Tech and Production support to our online ministry. Currently we only have 2 full time staff members in Ashton Lind and Kalebh Harwin who have been coordinating all the tech and production needs alongside other responsibilities.

Part-Time Pastoral Intern for Online Ministries

This financial year we have also appointed Karleigh Vaschina as a Pastoral Intern for Online Ministries and Pastoral Care 4 days per week. Karleigh has been instrumental in launching online connect groups, online alpha courses, training our online hosts and providing online prayer and pastoral care. She will be working alongside Pastor Jono who overseas our creative and online ministries

MULTIPLY CHURCH NETWORKS, CHURCH PLANTS AND RENEWALS MULTIPLY CHURCH NETWORKS, CHURCH PLANTS AND RENEWALS

Over the last 12 months it has been encouraging to see the ongoing growth of our church networks, the launch of our revitalisation partnership with Albion Baptist and more interns joining the team to train for future Church Planting & Renewals. We have a vision to continue to multiply our church networks, church plants and renewals over the next 12 months with the following:

Support Albion Revitalisation Partnership

There have been some amazing God stories already of people coming to Christ and unchurched people engaging with faith for the first time. Praise God! We will be continuing to invest in this partnership with Albion in the year ahead releasing Pastor Dan more, renovating some of the ministry spaces at Albion as well as working towards an official launch in March next year when Pastor Nick at Albion will step into retirement. We just want to again honour and acknowledge the amazing heart of Pastor Nick, the Albion leadership and congregation. It has been such a joy to partner with them and see their heart for prayer, their humility and dependence of God and their deep heart to see the suburb of Albion and beyond transformed by the gospel.

Expand Church Networks

This year we have engaged with more churches locally and regionally through our church networks ministry. We have seen God’s hand upon this kingdom focussed ministry through deep unity of relationships established between churches as well as excellent discipleship and training opportunities for the team members participating. The identification of these strategic blessings has led us to develop a plan to further invest in these networks.

Discern Future Church Plant and Renewal Opportunities

We continue to see large population growth in our region with this predicted to keep increasing in the decades ahead. Added to this is the increase in people interested in exploring faith and attending church. We are working with Queensland Baptist and other churches to identify strategic opportunities for church planting and renewals in our region.

MULTIPLY FUND MULTIPLY FUND

We can see God clearly moving amongst us as a people and we want to continue to press on into all that He has for us in the future. We are excited for all that HE will do but we also know that this will mean we have to step out in FAITH and play our part in sacrificially giving towards seeing His Kingdom continue to advance in what we pray is greater ways than we could expect or imagine.

The MULTIPLY fund will be distributed to three areas all contributing in different ways to increase our capacity to reach more people.

$150 000 TO RESOURCE, EMPOWER AND EQUIP

FUTURE LEADERS AND POTENTIAL CHURCH PLANTS AND RENEWALS.

$150 000 TO RESOURCE, EMPOWER AND EQUIP FUTURE LEADERS AND POTENTIAL CHURCH PLANTS AND RENEWALS.

We believe this is a vision we need to prayerfully support and with God’s help take with both hands as we ask Him to raise up leaders who can lead and strengthen his church here in Queensland and beyond.

1 The first reason is the need. Currently, there are 54 Baptist churches in Queensland who have pastoral positions waiting to be filled. It is hard for churches to find people to take up these positions and as we look to see God move across this state in the coming years the raising up of leaders will be one of the major priorities.

2 Secondly, we are very aware that God has blessed us with many gifted people who we want to see develop and flourish in serving God. We are well resourced and want to be generous with all we have.

3 Thirdly, God has grown through the leadership of Peter and Nathan a culture of humility, love and grace here at Bridgeman. It is a culture where leaders can grow and develop. Many who have been brought into this team environment of encouragement, grace, support, and mentoring have flourished.

4 Fourthly, it is God’s heart. God always calls us to be outward looking, to be generous and to step out in faith in trusting Him. This vision will require sacrificial giving; in time it will cost in terms of sending leaders out but the long-term fruit of the development of these leaders is worth it and we know God will continue to bless us as we trust Him.

The money set apart for this vision will be used to resource the training and equipping of those called to ministry and also used to facilitate potential church plants and renewals.

$

50 000

$50 000

TO

INVESTIGATE

THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW KIDS AND MINISTRY TRAINING CENTRE.

TO INVESTIGATE THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW KIDS AND MINISTRY TRAINING CENTRE.

Back in our 2022/23 financial year we invested in the development of a Master Plan for our site with the help of Novum Architects. This identified the first step in future development would be the construction of a Kids and Ministry Training Centre adjacent to our A1 Auditorium.

We prayed over these plans as a church at the time and looked forward in faith to the future but as we have continued to experience growth more rapidly than expected the pressure on our current facilities and ministries has been felt. As the leadership has prayed over this there has been a sense of God calling us to step forward in faith sooner rather than later.

With this in mind, we are looking to raise $50,000 through our Multiply Over and Above fund to engage consultants to further develop the plan for a new Kids and Ministry Training Centre and get an estimate on the costs to construct this building.

This is a big vision that has come sooner than we expected but we give thanks for this good problem that has come as the Spirit of God continues to move. This new facility would provide more space for our growing kids ministry, more meetings rooms for our courses and connect groups to meet as well as space for a ministry training centre as seek to keep developing future leaders for church planting, ministry and Christian leadership in the workplace.This next step of faith will help us to further discern God’s leading for us with regards to this vision.

$

75, 000

TO ENABLE

75, 000 TO ENABLE THE INSTALLATION OF

SOLAR PANELS

THE INSTALLATION OF SOLAR PANELS $

Another vision we have been looking into for some time is the installation of Solar Panels on the auditorium roof. We are blessed with plenty of roof space to be able to generate a large volume of solar power. In the past the poor pay back on the capital outlay prohibited us moving forward with this vision.

More recently our Finance Manager Megan has been working on this with some energy companies and with the ongoing technology improvements in this space and the increasing cost of power this appears to be a good time to move forward with this vision.

This will enable us to save significant power costs into the future as well as being good stewards of God’s creation. The estimated costs to install the panels required would be $75,000.

BUDGET 25/26 BUDGET 25/26

We saw great blessing in 2024/25, with growth across many areas of our church. We are so very thankful to our God for His provision through you, over the previous financial year. On top of all the ministry that occurred in our regular activities funded by the church budget, we were able to assist many of those in need through the giving in support of Bridgecare Ltd and other special appeals (see Thanksgiving pages).

“… Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

In considering the 2025-26 budget, the Church Council took into consideration the larger increase to the budget last year. Expense increases have been minimised where possible, however with the growth we are experiencing and the opportunities ahead, we need to maintain foundations for sustainable growth. The budget goal, approved by church members for the financial year ahead is $4,291,218 or $82,523 each week. This will require a weekly increase of $5,292 ($275,184 for the year) in general giving.We are trusting that everyone who is regularly attending here at Bridgeman will pray about making a small increase in their giving so we are able to meet this increase.

The following notes highlight some of the important aspects of the new budget.

KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING THIS YEAR’S BUDGET KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING THIS YEAR’S BUDGET

ADMIN, COMMUNICATIONS, OPERATIONS & GENERAL MINISTRIES

General Ministry costs have increased as greater opportunities have arisen and to keep up with our growth. Communications and office admin costs have decreased as we strive for efficiencies, maximise software and regularly review resources for currency. However, we have seen our operational costs rise, including increased insurance, electricity and maintenance costs. This is a byproduct of utilising the facilities nearly every day of the year, which has been a blessing to many ministries and individuals.

MISSION, OUTREACH & BENEVOLENT

It is our privilege to be able to partner with our missionaries, engage in outreach and support the benevolent needs in our community. Our commitment as a church is to distribute at least 10% of our overall budget annually to this work. This year our budgeted amount exceeds this, making up more than 11% of budget.

PERSONNEL

The biggest impact on our budget relates to personnel. The mandated 0.5% increase in superannuation guarantee contributions, CPI wage increases plus the Queensland Baptists remuneration guidance, across 57 staff members are unavoidable. We care for our staff and want to honour their commitment by providing for them appropriately.There has also been an inclusion of a small provision to allow for potential staff increase across the coming financial year.

FINANCIAL & CAPITAL

Our interest rate remains unchanged, however, through intentional treasury management, we are making interest savings with additional repayments off the loan in the current financial year. We have increased our principal repayments to keep consistency with our previous repayments, which should see further interest savings. We have allowed additional for capital and development to keep on top of our property and equipment maintenance. Compliance costs continue to rise as regulations increase around WHS and other areas. Bank charges are an ever-present cost, which we are reducing where possible, particularly through encouraging direct deposit donations for fee-free giving.

OTHER WAYS TO GIVE OTHER WAYS TO GIVE

In addition to regular giving of tithes and offerings, for which we are so thankful, there are other ways to support the work being done in and throughout our community.

Support

of Bridgeman’s Purpose to ‘Advance Christianity’ Via

Discretionary Trusts

Bridgeman Baptist Community Church is able to claim back franking credits from the Australian Taxation Office when you give via your Discretionary Trust, and where the distribution includes a component of franked income. For more information or to provide us with your Trust Distribution Statement, please contact Megan Kercher via megan@bridgeman.org.au.

Tax-deductible support of Bridgecare Ltd.’s purpose to ‘Provide Christcentred benevolent relief of poverty’

Bridgecare Ltd, Bridgeman Baptist’s benevolent arm, has the purpose of providing Christ-centred benevolent relief to individuals throughout the communities of Queensland experiencing poverty, sickness, suffering, distress, misfortune, disability and helplessness of people.

Separate to this booklet is the Bridgcare Ltd report with some amazing stories of God’s love and care being expressed to many over the last year and visions for the year ahead.

By supporting the ‘Where It’s Most Needed Fund’, you enable this work to continue. For details regarding donations (including banking details) please contact Bridgecare on info@bridgecare.org.au. Alternatively, you can call the church office on 3263 1950.

Please note: Donations in support of Bridgecare Limited must be received into Bridgecare Limited’s bank account, not Bridgeman Baptist’s bank account.

Business Sponsorship

If you have a business that is in a position to offer a sponsorship donation to our annual Christmas Lights Festival, please contact megan@bridgeman.org.au for details.

MY RESPONSE MY RESPONSE

Our vision is to see a reviving move of the spirit of God in our community, city and beyond. We want to fervently pursue our Kingdom mission of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ locally and throughout the world. Let our hearts be stirred with an unwavering commitment to make His name known across the earth. As a testament to our devotion, let us willingly offer our treasures to the Lord, trusting in His boundless provision. For it is by our faith in His abundance that we reveal the sincerity of our dedication to His mission. We are all called to play a part in this good work.

So please...

Prayerfully consider your Weekly Tithes and Offerings

Meeting the budget increase of $5,292pw is vital as we commit to the mission the Lord has planned for us to complete. With our weekly services growth over 6% this past year, we can spread the load. This is the equivalent to each individual increasing their giving by $2.65 per week, or approximately the cost of a chocolate bar. Or, to break it into components, we can fully resource this budget if we had 100 people per budget category item committed to giving the following amounts per week:

If 100 people gave per week: This would resource:

$452 Supporting our leaders

$120 A Place to call Home

$60 Reaching our Nation & beyond

$60 Welcome the Crowds

$40 Strong Foundations

$25 Empowered & Equipped

$32 Reaching our Community

$15 Stewarding Responsibility

$11 Spreading the message

$11 Making ministry happen

Enabling us to:

Provide for our personnel

Cover our loan repayments

Fund our missions giving and broader outreach support

Maintain our facility to provide a welcoming place for people to meet

Support our capital requirements

Sow into our ministries

Supply Bibles, run Alpha courses and events

Meet our compliance and financial requirements

Resource our Communications

Facilitate our administrative function

Please carefully reflect on what amount the Holy Spirit is calling you to contribute this year to the weekly budget.

To set up regular giving in support of our budget, please use the following details:

Account Name: Bridgeman Baptist Church

BSB: 704-913

Account Number: 400039525

Ref/Description: Offering

Alternatively there are donation stations in the A1 foyer, giving boxes at the back of the auditorium near the doors or online: www.bridgeman.org.au/giving

Prayerfully consider contributing to the “Multiply” Fund God is calling us into a season of multiplication – not for our glory, but for the expansion of His Kingdom. As we seek Him in prayer, we believe He is preparing us to step into more: more fruit, more faithfulness, more of His Spirit, more impact.

“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it...” Genesis 1:28 “The word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly..”Acts 6:7

Please pray over the visions God is calling us into for the financial year ahead as well as to pray for a reviving work of the Holy Spirit in our midst, our community and beyond. We also invite you to prayerfully discern if God is leading you to contribute to the Multiply Fund as we seek to raise $275,000 over and above budget to resource these visions.