Reformed Churches in South Africa

Last updated

Reformed Churches in South Africa
Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika.jpg
AbbreviationGKSA
Classification Protestant
Orientation Reformed
Theology Calvinist [1]
Polity Presbyterian
Associations International Conference of Reformed Churches, World Reformed Fellowship
Region South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, India
Origin1859
Rustenburg
Separated from Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK)
Congregations397 [2]
Members100,000 [3]
Ministers 276
Official website gksa.org.za

The Reformed Churches in South Africa (Afrikaans : Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika) is a Christian denomination in South Africa that was formed in 1859 in Rustenburg. Members of the church are sometimes referred to as Doppers. [4]

Contents

History of the Gereformeerde Kerke in South Africa

Syringa Tree Monument, Church Street, Rustenburg, (SAHRA9/2/263/0016) Syringa Tree Monument 2.JPG
Syringa Tree Monument, Church Street, Rustenburg, (SAHRA9/2/263/0016)

In the early 19th century a new hymnbook was introduced in the Dutch churches in the Netherlands, which was implemented in the Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape Colony. Many of these songs contradicted the teachings of the three confessions accepted at the Synod of Dort in 1618/1619 (The Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort). Some of the church members could not accept these doctrines. When they refused to sing the hymns, they were threatened with excommunication. They held the view: In Gods huis Gods lied (In God's house God's songs). [5]

The main founders of the denomination were particularly concentrated in the vicinity of Rustenburg, in the Transvaal. In 1859, 15 brothers decided to separate themselves from the Dutch Reformed Church. These 15 members held a meeting on 10 February 1859 under a seringboom at Rustenburg. At this meeting, 300 members enrolled as members of Gereformeerde Kerke. [6] The spot is marked today by the Syringa Tree Monument.

The Gereformeerde Kerke founded a seminary for theological studies and teacher training in Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape. It was moved to Potchefstroom in the early 20th century, where it became the Potchefstroom University College for Higher Christian Education, now the North West University. One of the faculties is the seminary for training their ministers.

The Gereformeerde Kerke today

The official name of the church body today is Die Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika (GKSA), translated into English as the Reformed Churches in South Africa (RCSA). It has 415 Congregations ministering to people in all 11 official languages of South Africa. [7] There are congregations in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Lesotho.

The General Synod meets every third year in Potchefstroom.

It has ecumenical ties with churches on all the continents of the world, except Antarctica.

Songbook of Gereformeerde Kerke

The Gereformeerde Kerke today uses only hymns from the Bible: the Psalms as well as Skrifberymings. Skrifberymings are hymns based on passages from the Bible.

Besides the Psalms and Skrifberymings, the hymnal contains the following:

Theology

Heidelberg Reformed Church in Heidelberg, South Africa Gereformeerde Kerk, Heidelberg.JPG
Heidelberg Reformed Church in Heidelberg, South Africa

Creeds

Confessions

Church government

The Reformed Churches have a Presbyterian – Synodal system of church government. [12] The church consists of the Eastern Regional Synod, the Bushveld Synod, the Northwest Synod, the Regional Synod of Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, the Southern Regional Synod, and the Randvaal Regional Synod. [13]

Seminary

The Reformed Churches in South Africa have their own Theological Seminary " Die Teologiese Skool" [14] in Potchefstroom. [7]

Missions

The Reformed Churches in South Africa has a number of growing local congregations. The denomination has local outreaches in Botswana and Mozambique. There are churches that support missionaries in Burundi. The Reformed Church in Rustenburg, South Africa has agreement with Koshin Presbyterian Church in Korea to support evangelism, and establishing new multicultural churches in Rustenburg area. The church cooperates with the Presbyterian Church of Brazil in missions in Angola and Mozambique. It is also involved in a Reformed church plant in Hanoi, Vietnam. Through membership in the World Reformed Fellowship, Gereformeerde Gemeenten collabotates WRF's works, also for example in the International Institute of Islamic Studies. [15]

Relations with other Reformed churches

Reformed Churches in South Africa is a member of the World Reformed Fellowship [16] and the International Conference of Reformed Churches [17]

The Gereformeerde Kerke has sister church relationship with the :

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "South African Christian". Sachristian.co.za.
  2. ↑ "Wie is ons?". Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Statistiek". gksa1.businesscatalyst.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  4. ↑ Pettman, Charles (1913). Africanderisms; a glossary of South African colloquial words and phrases and of place and other names. Longmans, Green and Co. p. 151.
  5. ↑ Fasse, Christoph. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions". Reformiert-online.net.
  6. ↑ "Geskiedenis". Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  7. 1 2 "BBK.GKV » Zuid-Afrika". Bbk.gkv.nl.
  8. ↑ "Geloofsbelydenisse / Confessions - GKSA". Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Church Order of the Reformed Churches in South Africa". Archived from the original on 16 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "English documents". Archived from the original on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "Belydenisskrifte". gksa1.businesscatalyst.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "Kerkregering". gksa1.businesscatalyst.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Statistiek". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  14. ↑ "Die Teologiese Skool". Archived from the original on 7 October 2003. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "Sending". Archived from the original on 16 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "The World Reformed Fellowship – Membership List". 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  17. ↑ "The International Conference of Reformed Churches". 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Ekumeniese Bande - GKSA". Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "GKSA Bande". gksa1.businesscatalyst.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2022.

Related Research Articles

The Dutch Reformed Church was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and the foremost Protestant denomination until 2004. It was the larger of the two major Reformed denominations, after the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands was founded in 1892. It spread to the United States, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and various other world regions through Dutch colonization. Allegiance to the Dutch Reformed Church was a common feature among Dutch immigrant communities around the world and became a crucial part of Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Reformed Churches of Australia</span>

The Free Reformed Churches of Australia (FRCA) are a federation of 18 congregations, 16 in Western Australia, two in Tasmania and a home-congregation in Cairns. At the start of 2016 the total membership was 4,663. Their historical roots are in the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands (Liberated) as a result of post-World War II immigration, and their doctrinal roots are in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation and the Bible. The first congregation was in Armadale, Western Australia, founded in 1951.

The Free Reformed Churches in South Africa is a federation of Protestant Christian churches. It follows Reformed Calvinist theology and has adopted the Dutch "three forms of unity" as its doctrinal standards: Canons of Dordt, Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism and subscribes to the three Ecumenical Creeds: The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed and The Athanasian Creed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Reformed Churches</span>

The Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands is a Protestant church in the Netherlands.

The Three Forms of Unity is a collective name for the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Heidelberg Catechism, which reflect the doctrinal concerns of continental Calvinism and are accepted as official statements of doctrine by many Calvinist churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated)</span> Orthodox-protestant church

The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt)) was an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (Vrijmaking) from the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, when many pastors and members refused to go along with the General Synod's demand to hold to "presumed regeneration of infants" at their baptism. Klaas Schilder played an important role in the Liberation. There are currently 270 affiliated local congregations with a total of about 120,000 members in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK)</span>

The Dutch Reformed Church in Africa is a Reformed Christian denomination based in South Africa. It also has congregations in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Along with the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) and the Reformed Churches in South Africa, the NHKA is one of the three Dutch Reformed sister churches of South Africa. The NHKA retains the old Nomenclature Nederduitsch, the word originally referring to the Dutch language. The word refers to the Low Saxon language today. The Dutch language remained the official language of the church until 1933 when the church started functioning almost exclusively in Afrikaans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Reformed Church in Sri Lanka</span>

The Christian Reformed Church of Sri Lanka is the oldest Protestant church on the island.

Christian Reformed Church in South Africa is a confessional Calvinist denomination in South Africa. The Church is a denominational member of World Reformed Fellowship. The moderator is Rev. Sakkie Weber, the Vice Moderator is Rev. Johnnie Tromp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch Reformed Church in Namibia</span>

The Dutch Reformed Church in Namibia is a Christian denomination in Namibia. It is one of ten synods of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK), and the only one outside South Africa. It covers all of Namibia except for the Eastern Caprivi Strip.

The Reformed Churches (Restored) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (hersteld)), also known as the New Reformed Churches (Dutch: Nieuwe Vrijgemaakte Kerken) constitute a Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It separated from the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) in 2003. Officially named the "Reformed Churches in the Netherlands", they are usually called the "Reformed Churches (Restored)" to avoid confusion with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (GKN).

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.

The Synod Central Africa is a regional governing body in the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa in Zimbabwe. In 1895 3 congregations were established in what was then known as Rhodesia. The number of congregations increased rapidly, theses was part of the Cape Synod, later the Free State Synod and the Transvaal Synod. Finally the Dutch Reformed Church - Synod Central Africa become autonomous in 1957. It has 16 congregations, 41 house fellowships and 2,600 members. Official languages are English and Afrikaans. The Apostles Creed, Athanasian Creed, Canons of Dort, Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession is generally accepted standards.

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 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.

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 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.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.