Summary

A Baptist Association conference on missions in November 1887 resolved to establish Baptist Churches at Townsville, Charters Towers, Mackay, Gympie, Croydon and other populous places. The foundation meeting for the Baptist Church in Townsville was held on 27 January 1888, under the organisation of Reverend T Vigis (Rosewood parish, Ipswich, Qld) while he was holidaying in the north. While there, Vigis also conducted the first two Baptist services in the town, one in the morning and another in the evening of Sunday 29 January 1888.

At the half-yearly meeting of the Queensland Baptist Association in mid-June 1888, however, it was lamented that there was no one available to send to Townsville and, without a church there, local Baptists were drifting towards other denominations. An arrangement for Baptist worship in Townsville was deemed a necessity and though there was money available for a church building, securing the services of a suitable minister was difficult. By 24 June services were being held in the new Oddfellow's Hall, which was secured for a twelve-month term. From April 1889 until November 1890, Rev Thomas Bree-Wood (variously Breewood, or Bree Wood) was preacher in Townsville. In April 1891, Rev Frederick Buckingham of Emerald Hill, Victoria, accepted the pastorate of Townsville, where he remained until 1896.
Vigis accepted the charge of Charters Towers in February 1889.