St Barnabas Anglican Church Balwyn is a growing church located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. We desire to see our community and city transformed by the good news of Jesus.
At St Barnabas’ we believe that Jesus’ teaching is for today. We believe who he is and what he said is good news for every person of every nation and every age. So we seek to raise up disciples of Jesus from generation to generation, that we would be the hands and feet of Jesus’ continuing working in the world. As a community of believers called by God, we pray together, worship together, learn from God’s Word and share this journey of faith. We are a community of hope, faith and love. We would love you to share this journey with us.
Where are we?
We are conveniently located at the top of the hill in Balwyn Road, right near the Balwyn Shops and Whitehorse Road.
86 Balwyn Road, Balwyn, Victoria, 3103, Australia. (Location map)
Contact us by email, or phone 03 9888 5897
Our Minister
Rev Randle Bond
Randle started as our minister at the end of 2020. He joins us with his wife Katie and their 3 kids. He comes with over 10 years experience as a minister and has a passion for seeing lives transformed by Jesus.
So who was St Barnabas?
St Barnabas is mentioned in Acts as,
“a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.”
Barnabas means "Son of Encouragement", and St Barnabas was certainly a man who encouraged others. He introduced the newly converted Paul to the Jerusalem apostles even though many people were suspicious of Paul. Barnabas convinced them of Paul's sincerity (Acts 9:27), and was sent to Antioch to investigate the situation of many Gentiles becoming Christians. He could see that God was doing a new thing (he had Godly vision) (Acts 11:19).
Barnabas also encouraged people to use their gifts of ministry. When he saw the Gentiles coming to faith in Antioch (Acts 11:23) he went and recruited Paul and brought him there for the big job of teaching and discipling the new believers (Acts 11:25-26). This church was a caring church, showing its concern for others; firstly in its giving (Acts 11:17-30), and secondly in its going. It launched a missionary enterprise with Barnabas and Paul as the missionaries and Mark as their helper.
The missionary journey for Barnabas and Paul was both difficult and dangerous, and called on great personal courage and innovation to preach Christ. Often there were no synagogues or temples in which to preach, so Barnabas and Paul had to think outside the square in order to communicate their message.
Our final glimpse of Barnabas is in Acts chapter 15. A second missionary journey was planned, but because Mark had defected from the first journey, Paul did not want to take him again. Barnabas did. Ever concerned for the man, Barnabas wanted to give Mark a second chance. Paul, concerned for the work, did not want to risk a further defection, and Barnabas and Paul chose to go their separate ways.
St Barnabas was indeed a man reflecting his name, a "Son of Encouragement" who cared about others, and the message of Christ.
What is our church history?
We have been the Anglican focus in Balwyn since 1872 when St Barnabas' Anglican Church held its first service. Find out more here.