Gobabis Reformed Church

Last updated

The Gobabis Reformed Church is the oldest congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in Gobabis in eastern Namibia. At the end of 2015, according to a poll of 300, it was the second-largest traditional Reformed Church congregation in the country.

Contents

Background

The Gobabis Reformed Church was born of the migration of around 2,000 Angola-Afrikaners, descendants of the Dorsland Trek emigrants of the 1880s who mostly adhered to the GKSA and mostly returned to South West Africa (SWA) in 1929. From the establishment at the end of the nineteenth century of the Mariental Reformed Church (NGK) (as Gibeon, 1898) until 1930, the church council counted at most five congregations in SWA, all affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK). In 1930, three GKSA churches formed in rapid succession, including those in Gobabis, Outjo, and Aranos. The minority of Angola-Afrikaners in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK) started their first three congregations in South West Africa in similar fashion in 1937: Gobabis (July 31), Otjiwarongo (August 21), and Grootfontein (September 4). The NGK did not arrive until after both of these foundations.

Foundation

In Kerk in 'n beter land: Die Kerkverhaal van die Dorsland- en Angolatrekkers 1873–1937, J.M. van Tonder (ed.) writes as follows about the Afrikaners' role in the founding of the settlement: "The Particular Synod of the Cape Reformed Church had, on May 26, 1930, delegated the Rev. H.S. van Jaarsveld to seek out members from Angola and South Africa and organize a church to guide them in the Word and the Sacrament. The Rev. Van Jaarsveld met with the elders Sarel du Plessis and E.T. Meyer and traveled to Farm 412, where a large group of parishioners awaited." Prof. Dr. Jooste write in his Gedenkboek van die Dorstandtrek:

During the first week of June, the Rev. Van Jaarsveld concentrated on testimonial catechism. On Saturday, June 6, 1930 (actually the next day), the Gobabis congregation was founded (on the Auheib farm). The Rev. Van Jaarseveld blessed the inauguration with the words of Ephesians 2:19-22: 'Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.' On June 6, 1930, all the church councilors of Angola gathered to approve the new congregation. An emotional moment arose when the last minutes from a meeting in Humpata, Angola, were read, approved, and signed by the council. Grounds acquisition was discussed, and the Humpata church council agreed to stay active until the foundation. A letter would also be sent to GKSA members in Ghanzi, Botswana, to which Gobabis would be the nearest GKSA congregation. On Saturday, June 7, 1930 (the Gobabis congregation's foundation date), the Reformed Church members gathered at Helew 408 farm, near the house of P.C. Akkerman, to pitch the tent. There were 364 confirmed and 462 baptized members, altogether 826, in the new Gobabis S.W.A. Reformed Church. The Rev. Van Jaarsveld, the chairman, explained to the congregation that the existing Angola church council had been dissolved and a new one needed to be elected, which it then was by secret ballot. The new councilors would be confirmed during the dedication service. As in Angola, a cattle fund was established to which people were expected to contribute to the best of their ability.

The remains of the farm church still stand. In 1990, the members gathered there to commemorate the church's founding. The Helma farmhouse was partly built from the limestone cobblestones of the church.

Church building

The new congregation immediately set about acquiring church lands in the Gobabis area after leaving Portuguese Angola. The municipal government assured the church council that suitable lands would not be used for an airport (it is unclear why the church council would be concerned about such a possibility). Many factors contributed to the two-decade delay in construction, among them World War II.

Finally, the renowned architect Gerard Moerdyk was hired to design the church, with P.J. van der Merwe hired as secretary of the building commission. Smit and Wagner was the firm contracted. Moerdyk suggested the same plan he had used for the Potchefstroom-Noord Reformed Church (later named the Potchefstroom-Die Bult Reformed Church), although the Potchefstroom building had different towers and was built entirely of brick. Moerdyk's blueprint included a Greek cross for the tower and seating for 400 churchgoers. The gallery, with seating for 125 people, symbolized outstretched arms embracing the community of believers. The tower was given a blunt point, since a pointed spire was considered too similar to a Roman Catholic church.

Moerdyk proposed a cheaper wood for roofing; the floor was also not to be parqueted at first. The pews came later from Johannesburg, and the municipal government installed the lighting. The pulpit was made locally and acoustic plaster was omitted to save money. A member, J.C. Labuschagne, gifted the church bell.

Construction began in April 1949, and the keystone was laid July 29, 1950. A member, Sannie Jansen van Vuuren, placed a bottle with a time capsule of documents under the keystone. On August 25, 1952, the congregation moved into the church it had been seeking since 1930. Elder P. Potgieter unlocked the door, elder H.P. du Plessis placed the Holy Bible on the lectern, and elder M. Van der Merwe placed the Psalter by its side.

Van Vuuren was born September 14, 1867, as Susanna Catherina du Plessis in Grivelfontein, near Rustenburg, and died on July 7, 1952. Her father, Lourens Marthinus du Plessis, led the second Dorsland Trek. On September 27, 1885, she had married Christoffel Johannes Janse van Vuuren (22 December 1866 – 1 December 1938) in Grootfontein. He had been born in Leeuwfontein, near Potchefstroom, and died on the Haring farm, near Gobabis. 12 children were born to this marriage. As the oldest member of the congregation, she was a natural choice to lay the aforementioned bottle with information on the congregation under its keystone.

Gobabis had 305 confirmed members at the end of 1997, 274 at the end of 2001, and 211 at the end of 2012, but had rebounded to 242 at the end of 2014. The general trend of GKSA congregations in Namibia in the first decade and a half of the 21st century was stable, except for major declines in Aranos, the Grootfontein, and the Karasburg

Pastors

  1. Kruger, Herculaas Frederik Venter, 1931–1935 (together with Outjo and Omrah)
  2. Van der Merwe, Johannes Lodewikus, 1939–1944 (together)
  3. Botha, Louis Jacobus, 1946–1949
  4. Van Rooy, Jacobus, 1950–1957
  5. Labuschagne, Frans Jakob, 1958–1966
  6. De Bruyn, dr. Frans Roelof Petrus, 1967–1969
  7. De Klerk, dr. Barend Jacobus, 1970–1975
  8. Vorster, dr. Jacobus Marthinus, 1975–1978
  9. Van der Schyff, Jan Adriaan Venter, 1978–1981 (left the ministry)
  10. Du Plessis, Roelof Jacobus Petrus, 1982–2007 (accepted his emeritus)
  11. Grönum, dr. Nicolaas Johannes, 2002–2004
  12. De Bruyn, Paul Jacobus, 2007–2011
  13. Kotzee, Dirk, 2012–2015
  14. Van den Heever, Werner, 2016 – present (accepted from the Vryheid Reformed Church)

Missionaries

  1. Kruger, dr. Mechiel Andries, 1963–1966 (among the San people)
  2. Van der Westhuizen, Philippus Jacobus Wilhelmus Schutte, 1967–1978
  3. Van der Walt, Nicolaas Jakobus, 1978–1982
  4. Venter, Tjaard Machiel, 1982–1985
  5. Viljoen, dr. Francois Petrus, 1988–1990
  6. Vogel, Gert Marthinus, 1991–1997

Sources

See also

Related Research Articles

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education

The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with other institutions to create the North-West University.

Reformed Churches in South Africa

The Reformed Churches in South Africa is a Christian denomination in South Africa that was formed in 1859 in Rustenburg. Members of the church are sometimes referred to as Doppers.

The Reformed Churches in Namibia is a confessional Reformed church in Namibia. Reformed people come from Angola to Namibia in 1929. The Dorslandtrekkers were mostly Reformed people who had settled in Angola but later moved to Namibia. The Dorslandtrekkers were originally from Transvaal, South Africa, and migrated northwestward starting in 1874 in two large and one smaller group, starting the Humpata Reformed Church under the Rev. Jan Lion Cachet. Later in 1930 3 congregations were established. More farmers came and the church grew. Missionary work was started in 1969 under the Bushmans of the Gobabis region, Botswana. It has 2,757 members and 14 congregations, and adheres to the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort.There's no women ordination. Official languages are Afrikaans, Bushman, Gobabis-Kung.

Hendrik (Hennie) Johannes Jacob Bingle was a Calvinist, educator and Rector of the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

The Reformed Church Windhoek is the oldest of the three Dutch Reformed churches in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.

The Reformed Church Windhoek-South is the second-oldest of the three Reformed Churches in South Africa (GK) congregations in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and the largest of that denomination in the entire country by number of professed members.

The Aranos Reformed Church was a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in Aranos in eastern Namibia. It left the denomination in 2016. With 16 confirmed and five baptized members at the end of 2014, it was the second smallest Reformed Church in Namibia, after the Karasburg Reformed Church, which had 12 confirmed and two baptized members. In 2015, the Aranos congregation grew to 19 confirmed and six baptized members.

The Biermanskool Reformed Church was a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in Namibia, until 2016 when it left the denomination. The congregation is based in the oldest GKSA building still in use in Namibia.

The Grootfontein Reformed Church is a congregation affiliated with the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) and located in Grootfontein, Namibia. It was officially founded on May 29, 1943, and celebrated its 75th anniversary the weekend of May 26–27, 2018.

The Keetmanshoop Reformed Church is a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in southern Namibia, headquartered in the town of Keetmanshoop but also embracing members from the towns of Aroab, Aus, Bethanie, Koës, Lüderitz, and Rosh Pinah. Since the congregation is paired with the Mariental Reformed Church, where the Rev. Johan Dunn is the current pastor since 2017, it also serves members from Mariental, Kalkrand, Maltahöhe, Stampriet, and Gochas. The collective Keetmanshoop-Mariental area is enormous, almost the size of the United Kingdom. The distance between Lüderitz and Stampriet is 500 km, and the even the distance between the two congregational seats, Keetmanshoop and Mariental, is 230 km.

The Mariental Reformed Church is a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) with its seat in the city of Mariental, Namibia, but the congregation members also hail from the towns of Kalkrand, Maltahöhe, Stampriet and Gochas. The congregation was founded in 1966, the same year as the Karasburg Reformed Church, and as of 2015 was the eleventh oldest GKSA congregation in Namibia.

The Otjiwarongo Reformed Church is the eighth oldest congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in Namibia. At the end of 2008, it belonged with five other Namibian congregations to the denomination's Klassis Waterberg, while another 13 congregations belonged to the exclusively Namibian Klassis Etosha. However, in 2015, the Otjiwarongo congregation returned to the Klassis Etosha. Confirmed membership went down from 58 in 2014 to 44 in 2015, and baptized membership went down from 18 to 6 in the same year.

Anna Aletta Elizabeth (Annie) van der Merwe was a leader of the sisters of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in South West Africa (SWA).

The Walvis Bay Reformed Church is a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in the town of Walvis Bay, Namibia, but also includes nearby Swakopmund. The Henties Bay Reformed Church broke away in 2006, but the Walvis Bay pastor continues to handle it concurrently. Walvis Bay's membership was 267 in 2015, more or less evenly split between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. Services are held in both towns every Sunday.

The Keetmanshoop Reformed Church is a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in southern Namibia. It is the third oldest NGK congregation in the country after Mariental and Otjiwarongo. Up until the founding of the Keetmanshoop congregation, the entire area known then as South West Africa (SWA) was divided between the two mother churches.

The Johannesburg Reformed Church (GKSA) was the second congregation of the Reformed Churches in Southern Africa (GKSA) on the Witwatersrand after the Krugersdorp Reformed Church (GKSA), founded only a month earlier.

The Turffontein Reformed Church was a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in southern Johannesburg, Transvaal. It was founded in 1906 and for years had a large membership, at times exceeding 3,000.

The Potchefstroom Reformed Church (in Potchefstroom, North West, South Africa, is the oldest congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa in what was then the Transvaal or South African Republic. At its founding in March 1842, it was the 28th congregation in what would later become South Africa and the tenth outside of the Western and Southern Cape Synod.

The Potchefstroom Theological School (TSP) is the seminary of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA). It began as the Burgersdorp Theological School, founded in 1869 and moved to Potchefstroom, South Africa, at the end of 1904, opening the following year.

The Rustenburg Reformed Church is the oldest congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA), founded in February 1859 by the denomination’s pioneer, Rev. Dirk Postma.