Discussion began in 1994 among various Baptist folk in the district about a new work in Mackay Northern Beaches.

At the time, a Mackay Baptist Church home group attended by four local families was meeting in the Beaches area.

Prayer about the possibility of a church in the Beaches led to the commissioning by the Mackay Baptist Church of three families (Lloyds, Hodges, and Hockings) to begin the new work and renovations to the Hodges’ house were put in place.

Letter box drops were done in the local Northern Beaches area and the first person from the community who responded to the letterbox drop was Jan Taylor who became a Christian through the ministry of the KYB ladies group.

The first service was held at the Hodges’ home in Bucasia on 11th November 1994.

At first, music was all by CD’s and cassette tapes.  Ian, Sally, Paul and Peter led worship, and Peter and Paul did the preaching. 

Lisa Hodges’ focus was on children and hospitality.

The primary goal was to attract people not attending church, rather than people from other churches.

Later, more home groups were started, ‘Christianity Explained’ was run, and the group remained closely linked to Mackay Baptist Church, taking part in their camps and other activities.

Preachers from other churches were invited from time to time.

There have been high and low spots in our church’s history, perhaps the lowest being in 2002, when discussion took place as to whether or not the group should disband and rejoin the ‘town’ church.  That low turned into a high, as the fellowship felt the Lord’s strong leading to press on in spite of the difficulty of the task.

Rev. John Whitbourn was called to the pastorate in October 2002, during which time the church applied and was accepted as a constituent church of the Baptist Union of Queensland. In mid-2006 John Whitbourn tendered his resignation and responded to a call to minister in Darwin in December 2006.  

The church called and appointed Mr Paul Potgieter on 6 June 2007. Mr Potgieter’s time with the BBC was short, with his resignation being received on 11 August 2008.

Since August 2008, God has blessed us with a continuous supply of lay preachers who have faithfully presented God’s word.

Pastor Jabin Mills was at BBC for 5 years and in December 2015 he accepted a call to Beenleigh Baptist Church (Qld).

During this period the church sharpened its focus on reaching the Northern Beaches community, particularly through its schools’ ministries.

In July 2017, Pastor Rob Ruge and family responded to the call to minister in the church. After arriving from Brisbane, Pastor Rob, Karen and the children sought to make strong connections with the community, particularly through their involvement in Eimeo Road State School, with both Rob and Karen teaching RI and Karen’s involvement in the P&C. After nearly four years serving BBC, Pastor Rob accepted a position as a full-time school chaplain in Mackay from March 2021.

After much prayer, the church asked Colin Hardy to be the pastor. Colin and his wife Lynne have been members of Beaches Baptist Church Mackay for more than five years and come with extensive pastoral and church leadership experience. Colin accepted the call from 31 May 2021.

As a church, our eyes are now firmly fixed on the future, to all that the Lord of the Church has in store for us as we serve Him in our part of the world.

Our vision is to take the Good News to the Northern Beaches of Mackay!