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About Southland

We are an independent Baptist church based in Seven Hills with a heart to reach Sydney for Jesus Christ. Southland Baptist was established 30 years ago with the purpose of families knowing the word of God and with a passion to reach their community with the gospel.

Under the leadership of our Pastor, God is continuing to work at SBC as we seek to communicate the saving message of Christ to our city and the whole of Australia. We believe the Lord’s work is just beginning here in the Western Suburbs!

Our Pastor

Tom Gonderman is the Pastor at Southland Baptist Church. He and his wife Heidi were married in 1994 and have five children. Originally from the United States, Pastor and his family immigrated to Australia in 2003.

Through the years, he has trained men for the ministry and has been involved in church planting and missions around the world. His passion is to help build the spiritual lives of the members at Southland, and reach further into Australia and worldwide to take the gospel to the unreached.

Pastor Tom is a builder of men and a practical teacher and preacher of the Word of God, and we are excited to have him as our Pastor!

Tom and Heidi Gonderman

Our Beliefs

The following comprise the scriptural beliefs of Southland Baptist Church and its members.

  • The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the fully and verbally inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed and, therefore, are the final authority for faith and life.  2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21

  • There is one living and true God that exists in three persons:  Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  Deut. 6:4; 1 Tim. 1:17; James 1:17; 1 Jn. 4:4

  • Man was created in the image and likeness of God; but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:17-19

  • Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace, and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.   Salvation is by grace through faith alone in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Jn. 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 Jn. 1:9

  • Once saved, a Christian cannot be lost.  The child of God is secure in Jesus Christ forever.  Jn. 3:16, Phil. 1:6, Jn. 10:27-29, Rom. 8:38-39

  • The Church is God’s chosen organisation through which Christians are to carry out His commands.  Acts 20:28; Acts 13:1-4.  The two church ordinances are the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.  All believers, and only believers, should be baptised by immersion, and all believer should regularly remember the Lord’s death in the Lord’s Supper. Mat. 26:17, 26-29; Mk. 14:1; Lk. 22:15-20; 1Cor. 11:23-29; Mat. 3:13-16; 28:19-20; Jn 3:23; Acts 2:41; 8:12-13, 36-39; 10:48. 

  • The Bible teaches the eternal blessedness of the saved. Jn. 4:14, 5:24; Eph. 2:7 

    The Bible also teaches the eternal punishment of the unsaved in the lake of fire.   Jn. 5:28–29; Rev. 20:10, 15

     Every man must be saved to enter heaven and escape everlasting torment in the lake of fire.  Lk. 16:22-23; Jn 3:3, 18, 36; Rev. 21:27.

  • The catching away of the saints to Heaven, where their lives of service for the Lord will be judged and rewarded. Rom. 14:10-13

    This catching away, commonly called “the Rapture”, happens before the Tribulation, at which time God will pour out His wrath upon the wicked world. Dan. 12:1, Rev. 6-18

    After the Tribulation, the risen Son of God will return physically to the earth to establish His kingdom which will last for 1,000 years.  These are referred to as “the Second Advent” and the “Millennial Kingdom.”  Acts 1:11; Jn 14:3; Jude 14; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:4-6

Our History

Southland Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church that is fundamental in doctrine, and has a heart for reaching Sydney for Jesus Christ. Southland Baptist was originally established in 1994 as Bethany Baptist Church, with a handful of families that wanted to faithfully follow the teachings of God's word. Through the years, this desire has only strengthened. Our name changed to Southland, communicating our vision to reach out to the whole of Australia with the gospel.  

We still believe that God's word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We desire to share the hope that is found in God's word with our local community and support the evangelization of the world through foreign missions.

Primarily based in Seven Hills, our ministries extend to the greater Western Sydney area. Through the ministry of the church, the lost are coming to Christ, families are being strengthened, and Christians are being encouraged and challenged in their walk with the Lord Jesus.