BCS Connect Grants: Celebrating 10 years

BCS is privileged to partner with Baptist Churches in NSW and the ACT in expressing the love of Christ to people in the community through the BCS Connect Grant program. 

The BCS Connect Grant program has been operating for 10 years. In that time, BCS has awarded 107 grants totalling $381,465 to Baptist churches in NSW and the ACT to fund new (or expand existing) church-based compassion or outreach ministries. More than 90 Baptist churches have received a Connect Grant of up to $5,000 to assist them in reaching out to their local community with the love of Christ.

This year, 33 applications were received from Baptist churches seeking funding for a broad range of compassion ministries.  This represents 10% of all Baptist Churches in NSW and the ACT, and is the highest number of applications received in recent memory.

Each application was assessed by a panel against the Grant criteria. First and foremost, the project requiring funding had to be either a new initiative in need of start-up capital, or an existing ministry that required an injection of funds to take it to a significantly higher level.

Each applicant also had to demonstrate the following:

  • that they were responding to a researched need in the community;

  • that the project will benefit people living with disadvantage or distress;

  • that specific outcomes had been identified and would be evaluated; and

  • that the church would be able to sustain the project beyond the first 12 months if necessary without additional funding from BCS.

BCS is delighted to announce that the following BCS Connect Grant Applicants were successful in gaining funding for 2012.

 Baptist Community Church, Burwood (BCCB)  Positive Parenting Program (Triple P)
 Bridgewater Baptist Church  Mobile Maintenance Program
 Matraville Baptist Church  Computer and English Classes Outreach
 Merrylands Baptist Church  Encounter Youth Centre Band Ministry
 Narara Valley Baptist Church (NVBC)  Poverty Relief Project
 Nelson Bay Baptist Church (NBBC)  Shoal Bay Primary School Breakfast Program
 Northside Baptist Church  Manna Café
 Port Macquarie Baptist Church (PMBC)  Community Garden

Applications for 2012 BCS Connect Grants will be sought between June and September 2012. More information is available on the Churches section of the BCS website.

For more information about the care ministries of the successful churches, read the Summer 2011 edition of Trust magazine (coming soon).