The start of each year at Kew Baptist Church (KBC) sees many newcomers seeking to become involved in church life, and one of the best ways to draw them into community is through the Hub.
Hub is a weekly event run across a series of Wednesday nights, with three main goals: to go deeper into a teaching series, to foster connections across the church community, and to launch Connect life groups for the year.
“It has been great for breaking away from the social cliques that can easily happen on a Sunday,” says Associate Pastor Lauren Pickering. “It also gives us a focus for the year, and people come along to Hub as newcomers and end up making a lot of new connections for the year ahead. Although Hub is a lot of work for us, it has been quite effective. It’s a really handy event to have in the calendar for the start of each year in our context – a catch-all integration for new people.”
Each Hub night starts with social time, followed by worship and a guest speaker. Next, participants separate into discussion groups for 40 minutes, working through some questions and praying together. “We are really intentional in the way we allocate discussion groups – we like to organise a real different mix allowing them to get to know people they wouldn’t ordinarily interact with at church. The main emphasis for Hub is on community integration and connection. We’ve found that what people tend to love most about it is the group discussion and social connection time – it’s a real community connection event.”
This year, the theme was, “Who do you say I am?” Speakers included BUV Support Hub Generations Pastor Kimberly Smith, Whitley College Rev Associate Professor Darrel Jackson, and Melbourne School of Theology Rev Tim Meyers. “Guest speakers provide a great opportunity to hear fresh voices and add a fresh take on the topics that we cover on the Sundays.”
There is a strong young adult demographic at KBC, partly due to those living at the church’s Kew Student Residence ministry. Hub started in its current format in 2020 as a young adults event, but shifted to include all ages last year. “This turned out to be very fruitful, as many people enjoyed connecting with others from different life stages. They were really encouraged by those relationships – some young people asked to be in a Connect group with older members of the congregation.”
Lauren said many church members remembered Hub as the first time they felt truly connected at Kew and they loved to pass on that welcome to others.