Reverend Gary McGinty

Pastor Gary has held the position of Senior Pastor at Cairns Baptist Church since March, 2003. Prior to that time, he was the founding pastor of Mill Park Baptist in Melbourne for 16 years.

Gary trained as a motor mechanic and built his own successful business for 19 years before taking up the call to become a pastor. He is committed to Bible-based preaching and seeing the Church reach out into the community to share the love of Christ through good works and speaking the gospel.

Gary brought with him to Cairns Baptist a strong commitment to Home Groups as the place where Christians are able to grow and help each other grow as Christians. His desire is to see everyone in the Church ministered to in this way. He also believes it is important for every Christian to discover their spiritual gifts and use them in ministry.  Some of the main influences for Gary in ministry have been Warren Wiersbe Bill Hybles and Rick Warren.

Gary also holds the role of FNQ Area Co-ordinator for Queensland Baptists from Tully to Cooktown and is on the Board of Queensland Baptists and CALAM.

Gary has been married to Sue for more than 43 years. They have four sons and 11 grandchildren





Pastor Josh McGinty

Pastor Josh took up the position of Associate Pastor of Cairns Baptist Church at the beginning of 2006. Trained as a plumber, Josh thought his future was going to be in full-time ministry with one of the Christian missions that support churches in practical ways. During his final year of Bible College God made it clear He was calling Josh to serve as Assistant Pastor at Cairns Baptist Church.

Josh's role involves the overseeing of the Children, Youth and Young Adults and Young Families ministries within the Cairns Baptist Church and also to spiritually oversee the Music Team. He works with his father sharing the pastoral responsibilities of the church including teaching/preaching, visitation, crisis intervention (where necessary) and counselling.

Josh is married to Ginny and has four children.

Pastor Jireh Scheurwater

Pastor Jireh was appointed as Cairns Baptist Church Children's Pastor in October of 2008. Since then he has continued developing the Kids Church program and as well as the Friday night kids Program (BeanBag: Prep - Grade 7). He also assists with teaching/preaching, visitation and counseling for children and families where needed.

Jireh was born in North QLD and spent his early years in Cairns before his family moved to PNG as missionaries with Missionary Aviation Fellowship. After serving eight years in PNG they transferred to Nhulumbuy in the Northern Territory and then later back to Cairns in order for Jireh to complete High School.

Whilst initially studying Law at university Jireh realized that this was not where God had called him to be and after a few years working in computers and telecommunication he accepted a position here at Cairns Baptist Church. He is currently completing a Bachelor of Ministry through Malyon Theological College.

Jireh is married to Rose and has anywhere up to 50 children depending on what night of the week it is.

What is Church like?

Cairns Baptist Church is not just about church services, it's also a place where you can build great friendships, share common interests together, find opportunities to serve the community and explore faith together.  'Home Groups' or 'Small Groups' meet throughout the week to provide the opportunity for this to occur.

Nevertheless, meeting together as a large group to honour God is an exciting part of our life together.  Hebrews 10:25 says, ^'Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.'

Worship Services:

If you've never been to a church service before, or haven't been to one like ours, you may be pleasantly surprised to find how relaxed we are! There's no dress code, no expectations, the teaching is relaxed and relevant and easy to understand.

To help give you an idea of the kinds of things that take place in one of our Sunday Services, here's some details:

• Duration - At Cairns Baptist Church we have two services... one in the morning and one at night.  Our service times are: 9:30am and 6:30pm and last about an hour and a half.

• Music - One way of worshipping God is by singing together. This is done through a contemporary band i.e. drums, guitars, keyboards, etc... In each service there might be several songs played at different times during the service. These are usually a mix of modern day worship songs with traditional songs and hymns.

• Prayer - Prayer is our way of communicating with God.  We often have times during the service for everyone to share how God is working in their lives, to ask for prayer or share praise points for the encouragement of the church.

• Offering - As a sign of our thankfulness for everything God provides for us, and as another aspect to our worship, we collect a monetary offering once in each service.  This is an opportunity for the regular attendees at Cairns Baptist Church to give to the Lord's work.  If you feel led to participate in this, your offering would be welcome.

• Sermons - Our sermons are prepared by our pastors and elders, who oversee the spiritual well-being of our church.  They prayerfully seek God's guidance in deciding on the teaching for our church.  We occasionally receive guest speakers from various mission organisations and other churches, and it is always great to hear how God is working around our country and the world.

• Bible Reading - We believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God, the ultimate truth for dealing with every life situation.  It is often read during each service and we encourage everyone to bring their own bible to each service, but if you forget don't worry. The Bible readings are often read with the verses displayed on our projector screen.

• Communion - The first morning service and the third evening service of each month also includes a short communion time where we eat bread and drink grape juice, symbolically remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that we should keep doing this until He comes again. If you don't wish to take part in this then don't feel embarrassed about letting it pass.

• Children's Church - We have a children's program during the morning services that starts about 15 minutes into the service. This is for primary school children up to Year 7.  Within a child safe environment we provide some exciting age-specific teaching and activities led by our children's pastor and his bunch of enthusiastic leaders and helpers. Of course, children are also welcome to quietly stay in the service.

• Nursery - We have a cry room located at the rear of the church auditorium for nursing mothers, as well as a creche room for children up to 5 years old. However children must be supervised by a parent while in this room.  Colouring-in material is also available at the door for those looking for something to do during the service.

• Mini-Church - Mini Church is a programme for 2 - 4 year olds (up to school age) during the Sunday morning service. The programme is designed to be a simple but effective means of exposing children to the Biblical storyline, incorporating singing, prayer, a Bible story and a related activity. It is led each Sunday by parents and other enthusiastic people within the Church. (Each adult involved holds a blue card or is otherwise legally permitted to work with children). Children must be signed in and out by a parent/guardian each Sunday. Children under the age of 2 are welcome, but must be accompanied by a parent/guardian for the whole programme. We look forward to seeing you and your children!

• Refreshments - After our morning service free refreshments are provided in the breezeway (between the Auditorium & Hall). It's a chance for you to mingle with people from the Cairns Baptist Church family as well as other guests. For night services, every first Sunday of the month is a Welcome Inn night which provides more opportunity to talk and enjoy a small meal and drinks in a relaxed setting. Soft Drinks are available for $1 each and we kindly suggest a gold coin donation toward food costs would be greatly appreciated.  Our Bapsspresso Coffee Cart also operates some nights as well, with 'REAL COFFEE' and hot chocolates on offer, available for $2 each.

We look forward to meeting you at one of our services. You'll find many friendly people wanting to make your visit a memorable and welcoming one!