What we Believe
Located in Lynnwood Ridge, Pretoria, we are a Bible-focused Baptist church that loves Jesus and the world He came to redeem. Because we’ve been transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit, we exist to glorify God by developing mature followers of Jesus Christ through the power of His Word.
We accept, as the fullest and most cohesive expression of our faith, the historic 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. However, in so doing, we affirm that the ultimate authority in all matters of faith, order, and morals is, and must ever be the Bible alone, as articulated in the opening article of this Confession itself. This historic document is, however, an excellent summary of “the things most surely believed among us.” We accept it not as an infallible rule or code of faith for us, but rather as an assistance to us in doctrinal definition, a confirmation in the things of the faith, and a means of edification in righteousness. Here, the members of our church will have a body of theology in compact form and, by means of Scriptural proofs, will be readily able to give a reason for the hope that is within them (I Pet. 3:15).
Church Leadership
Dr Sybrand de Swardt
Elder
Dr Sybrand de Swardt has been the pastor of Lynnwood Baptist Church since 2009. He preaches expositionally and does extensive counselling and teaching on counselling related issues. Dr de Swardt has received a Master of Arts in Biblical Counselling from The Master’s University and a Doctorate of Educational Ministry from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. For his doctoral project, he developed a thirty-hour contextualised biblical counselling course which is now offered yearly.
Henrico van Niekerk
Elder – Evangelism
Henrico is currently an Elder at Lynnwood Baptist Church. He became a member in 2018, served as a Deacon from 2019, and became an Elder in 2023. He is currently in the process of becoming a certified biblical counselor with ACBC. He has a great desire to evangelize the lost and disciple the saved.
He has a BEng in Mechanical Engineering, but has been working as a Data Engineer since 2021. Henrico and his wife, Siovhan, have been married since 2020 and have one daughter, Marice.
Mike Valentine
Deacon / Administration