"The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." 

Psalm 126:3

In August 1970, the Lord brought together a small group of Christians who began to meet in the home of Fred and Joanna Boer in Warburton. They had a united desire to stand firmly on the truths of the Bible and to continue to faithfully proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. Their constitution was drawn from that of Benalla Independent Baptist Church (now Rose City Baptist Church), and they began under the name of Warburton Christian Fellowship. They steadily grew in number and called Cecil Jackel (who had been widowed a couple of years earlier) as pastor, in June of 1971. The new pastor accepted a modest wage ($15 a week) and supplemented it by selling Rawleigh’s products, which gave him a wonderful opportunity to meet the people of the community and share the love of God with them. The little church continued to blossom, and then in 1973 a wonderful opportunity arose. The Church of England put its Wesburn property up for sale. The pastor and the people saw it as the Lord’s gracious provision for them to have a regular place to meet and with wonderful exposure to the whole community, being located right on the Warburton Highway in Wesburn. Through the sacrificial giving of the congregation, the property was purchased (for $4,250), and the church has been meeting here ever since.

The building itself was in a rather sorry state when purchased. It was on a lean and needed a lot of love and care. Multiple working bees (both then and since) saw it transformed into the lovely building it is. 

Over the years the congregation has been served by a number of faithful pastors. After Bro. Jackel went to be with the Lord (from cancer) in 1979, Ralph Robinson served as interim pastor (with his wife Jean) until Paul Hall was called (with his wife Hazel) in 1982. They served here for 3 years. Bro Les Thomas was called to pastor the church in 1988, and he and his wife Lyn served the Lord here until 1996. It was during this time that the church changed its name to Wesburn Baptist Church. Bro Les Binstead came to pastor the work from 1997 until 2001 with his wife Joye. Bro Martin Martin pastored the work during 2004 (with his wife Mary), then the church was without a pastor until 2011. Kevin Currell (with his wife Sandy) then became the pastor with semi-retired American missionary, Wayne Harper (and his wife Angela) as “assistant” pastor. The Lord then graciously provided David Kemplay-Hill (and wife Susan) to pastor the church. Bro David faithfully led the congregation until the Lord called him home in 2020. The Lord has now seen fit to provide us with Andrew Leng, who is currently ministering as pastor (with his wife Jessica).

We have been blessed with many members over the years, and in these times the Good News of absolute forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ has been proclaimed, and precious local souls have been saved and believers discipled.

Through the years, the members of Wesburn Baptist Church have had a great burden to minister to the surrounding community. Faithfully presenting the Good News about the Lord Jesus Christ in both spiritual and practical ways has continued throughout the 50 years. This currently includes working through the LinC program in the Valley (Love in the name of Christ) to the extremely vulnerable in the community, ministering at a local retirement home, and more. We also support missionary families overseas who are ministering and presenting the wonderful Gospel to their needy communities. The church currently assists people in Romania, Spain, Chad, PNG, Paraguay, Mauritius, The Philippines, and more. We currently have a missionary in our church seeking to raise enough support to reach the Deaf with the Gospel. 

Our church is constantly seeking to expand the ways in which it can be a blessing to the people of the Valley and the rest of the world. With little, God can do much. 

"The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." 

Psalm 126:3