Constituted in 1891, Camberwell Baptist Church is a church in Melbourne, Australia. It is a member of the Baptist Union of Victoria and has met on the same site at 460 Riversdale Road, East Hawthorn near Camberwell Junction for 118 years. Today the church is a multi-generational, vibrant, contemporary, Christian community that lives in the midst of a busy retail and cafe area.

Camberwell
The area known as Camberwell has been a center for spiritual gathering for thousands of years. Initially this gathering was surrounding an old red-gum corroboree tree. Since the time of white settlement there have been seven churches that were established within a short distance of this tree.

History
In December, 1890 a group of friends met in Hawthorn to consider beginning a church in what was the new and growing area of Camberwell. There were 16 initial participants and the group started services in February 1891. Church records show that there 26 initial foundation members. The church conducted its first baptisms in June 1891 and was constituted with the Baptist Association of Victoria (later the Baptist Union of Victoria) in October 1891.
This enthusiastic group grew and called its first pastor, the Rev. HH Jeffs, in 1901. Jeffs was a young evangelist and church planter and stayed at Camberwell Baptist for seven years before going on to a distinguished ministry. Under Rev. Jeffs ministry the church grew to about 200 people and, from there until the present, numbers have fluctuated between 150 and 400 people. It is reasonable to describe the church's theological fit over the years as warm and evangelical. The church has also had a long commitment to overseas and cross-cultural ministry. Camberwell Baptist celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1940.

Recent
In 2005 Rev Dr Andrew Menzies DMin was called as the eleventh pastor of the church. The church today has grown into a vibrant and contemporary multi-cultural and multi-generational church. It is committed to local mission as well as in cross-cultural contexts and enjoys a well rounded staff.  The church has growing ministries among children, youth, young adults, young families, small groups and seniors. Weekly Bible based sermons are available on the church website (below) and are enjoyed by a regular listenership around the world.

Pastors
Rev. Jeffs was followed by Rev. NL Beurle (1909-1021); Rev. R Ings (1921-1934); Rev. EC Burleigh MA, BD (1934-1944); Rev. LG Bond BA (1945-1955); Rev. WS Hadden LTh (1956-71); Rev. JAC Coleman ThB (1973-1983); Pastor Colin Howlett (1983-1990); Rev. David Devine BA, BTh, DipPS (1993-1997); Rev. Harley Kitchen LTh, BTh (1997-2003). Over its lifetime the church has also enjoyed significant interim and associate ministries.