The Nederduits Gereformeerde Church is a Dutch Reformed Church from the Netherlands which took root in South Africa, where it is the oldest and largest of several Dutch Reformed Churches. The Dutch Reformed village church of St. ...

History

Colonial period

When the Dutch East India Company sent Jan van Riebeeck to start a vegetable garden at the Cape of Good Hope in 1662, most of the company's employees were members of the Dutch Reformed Church. Dutch colonial possessions, with the Dutch East India Company possessions marked in a paler green, surrounding the Indian Ocean plus Saint Helena in the mid-Atlantic. ... Arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town Johan Anthoniszoon Jan van Riebeeck (21 April 1619–18 January 1677), was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town. ... The Cape of Good Hope; looking towards the west, from the coastal cliffs above Cape Point. ... Events February 1 - The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. ... The Dutch Reformed village church of St. ...

At first there were no ordained ministers from the church in the Netherlands, to exercise pastoral care, but only a sick comforter. The first minister, Johan van Arckel arrived in 1665 and a consistory was formed, but was still subject to the control of the classis or presbytery in Amsterdam. 1665 (MDCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... // Antiquity Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply sitting together, just as the Greek syn(h)edrion (from which the Biblical sanhedrin was a corruption). ... Presbyterian governance of a church is typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. ... Amsterdam Location Flag Country Netherlands Province North Holland Population 741,329 (1 August 2006) Agglomeration - up to 2. ...

In 1688 200 Huguenot refugees arrived at the Cape. Though they were at first allowed to hold services in French, they were eventually assimilated into the Dutch-speaking population, and became members of the Dutch Reformed Church, which had a monopoly in territory controlled by the company. An exception was eventually allowed for a Lutheran Church in Cape Town (many of the company's employees were German). // Events A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the Immortal Seven, invite William and Mary to depose James II of England. ... In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Huguenot was applied to a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of France, historically known as the French Calvinists. ...

During the Napoleonic Wars the British occupied the Cape Colony in 1795 to prevent the French from doing so. The French had occupied the Netherlands, and so the link between the Cape Dutch Reformed Church and the Amsterdam presbytery was broken. The first British occupation was temporary, but in 1806 a long-term occupation was undertaken, and for the next century the Cape Colony would be under British control. Ministers from the Netherlands were not as willing to serve in what was now for them a foreign country, and the British authorities were not keen to have them. Presbyterian ministers from Scotland were encouraged to serve the needs of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape. The Dutch Reformed Church was semi-established, and the government helped with stipends of ministers. Combatants Allies: Austrian Empire[1] Kingdom of Portugal Kingdom of Prussia[1] Russian Empire[2] Kingdom of Spain[3] Kingdom of Sweden United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland[4] French Empire - Kingdom of Holland - Kingdom of Italy - Kingdom of Naples - Duchy of Warsaw - Kingdom of Bavaria[5] - Kingdom of... Anthem: God Save the Queen Cape Colony Capital Cape Town Language(s) English and Dutch1 Religion Dutch Reformed Church, Anglican Government Constitutional monarchy Last Monarch King George VI Last Prime Minister  - 1908 – 1910 John X. Merriman Last Governor  - 1901 - 1910 Walter Hely-Hutchinson Historical era 19th century  - Dutch East India... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Anthem: God Save the Queen Cape Colony Capital Cape Town Language(s) English and Dutch1 Religion Dutch Reformed Church, Anglican Government Constitutional monarchy Last Monarch King George VI Last Prime Minister  - 1908 – 1910 John X. Merriman Last Governor  - 1901 - 1910 Walter Hely-Hutchinson Historical era 19th century  - Dutch East India... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I 843  Area    - Total 78,772 km...

The colony had expanded a longway beyond the Cape Peninsula in the preceding two centuries, both to the north and the east, and on the eastern frontier the Dutch farmers came into contact with Xhosa-speaking cattle herders. There were conflicts over grazing and water, and cattle rustling across the frontier. The frontier farmers did not like the way the government in Cape Town handled the situation, and the ending of slavery in 1834 was another bone of contention. Afrikaner Calvinism was developing a different worldview to that of the British rulers, and many farmers left the Cape Colony in the Great Trek. City motto: Spes Bona (Latin: Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Province Western Cape Mayor Helen Zille Area  - % water 2,499 km² N/A Population  - Total (2004)  - Density Not ranked 2,893,251 1,158/km² Established 1652 Time zone SAST (UTC+2... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Afrikaner Calvinism is, according to theory, a unique cultural development that combined the Calvinist religion with the political aspirations of the white Afrikaans speaking people of South Africa. ... Trekboers on the Karoo. ...

The Dutch Reformed ministers generally tried to discourage them, and as the Dutch Reformed Church was the established church of the colony, did not initially provide pastoral ministry for the emigrant farmers, who eventually formed two independent republics, the Oranje-Vrijstaat between the Vaal and Orange rivers, and the South African Republic (ZAR) in the land beyond the Vaal (Transvaal). The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. ... The Orange River is the major river in South Africa. ... Capital Pretoria Created 1857 - Independence 1881 - First Boer War Dissolved 1877 - 1st British Annexation 1900 - Formal Annexation Official language Dutch Spoken language Afrikaans This article is about the former country in Africa. ... Flag of Transvaal For the Russian theme park, see Transvaal Park. ...

Because the Cape Dutch Reformed Church was seen by the trekkers as being an agent of the Cape government, the also did not trust its ministers and emissaries, seeing them as attempts by the Cape government to regain political control. There were also religious divisions among the trekkers themselves. The more conservative ones (known as Doppers) were opposed to singing hymns in church. A minister from the Netherlands, Dirk van der Hoff went to the Transvaal in 1853, and became a minister in the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk, which was constituted in 1856, and in 1860 recognised as the State Church of the South African Republic, separate from the Cape Church. Trekkie (or Trekker) is a term used to describe a fan of the Star Trek science fiction franchise. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Capital Pretoria Created 1857 - Independence 1881 - First Boer War Dissolved 1877 - 1st British Annexation 1900 - Formal Annexation Official language Dutch Spoken language Afrikaans This article is about the former country in Africa. ...

In the mean time there had been controversy in the Netherlands over hymn singing as well, and a group had broken away from the Netherlands Reformed Church to form the Christian Reformed Church. A minister from this group, Dirk Postma also travelled to the South African Republic, and was accepted as a minister of the Hervormde Kerk, but on learning that he and his congregation could be required to sing hymns, he and the Doppers broke away from the state church to form the Gereformeerde Kerk. There were thus now three Dutch Reformed Church]]es in South Africa -- the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (the Cape Synod), the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk, which was the state church of the South African Republic, and the Gereformeerde Kerk, led by Postma. The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA or CRC) is a Protestant Christian denomination which follows Reformed Calvinist theology. ...

In the Cape Church meanwhile there was more controversy over theological liberalism and theological conservatism. An evangelical revival led by Andrew Murray tipped the balance away from theological liberalism. One result of the revival was that many young men felt called to the ministry, and a seminary was opened at Stellenbosch. The NG Kerk was thus no longer dependent on getting its clergy from overseas, and as most of the recruits to the ministry had emerged from the revival this was the dominant element. One of its features was a kind fo Reformed "Lent", between Ascension Day and Pentecost, as custom that eventually spread beyond the confines of the NG Kerk. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Andrew Murray (1828-1917) was the child of Dutch Reformed Church missionaries from Scotland to South Africa, younger brother of John Murray. ... Stellenbosch is the second oldest European settlement in South Africa after Cape Town, and is located in the Western Cape Province. ... In Western Christianity, Lent is the period (or season) preceding Easter lasting from Ash Wednesday to the Mass of the Lords Supper on Holy Thursday. ... For other meanings see Ascension (disambiguation) The Ascension is one of the great feasts in the Christian liturgical calendar, and commemorates the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven forty days after his resurrection from the dead. ... Pentecost (symbolically related to the Jewish festival of Shavuot) is a feast on the Christian liturgical calendar that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, and the followers (men and women) of Jesus, fifty days (seven weeks) after Easter, and ten days after Ascension Thursday. ...

The revival also led to an interest in mission work, which led to the establishment of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church for coloureds and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa for blacks. These were segregated entirely from the white churches, but eventually united to form the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. In the South African context, the term Coloured refers to various people of mixed Bantu, Khoisan, and European descent (with some Malay or Indian ancestry, especially in the Western Cape) together with some racially pure Khoisans. ... The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa was formed by the union of the black and coloured Dutch Reformed mission churches. ...

The NG Kerk expanded from the Cape Colony, but in Natal and the two inland republics it set up separate synods that were at first loosely federated, but later developed a closer relationship.

Following the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) the NG Kerk played an important role in reconstruction, and resisting the tendency of the British rulers to Anglicse the Afrikaners. As the church ministers became increasingly involved in attempts to uplift the Afrikaner people, they also became politicised, and many became spokesmen for Afrikaner nationalism. Combatants United Kingdom Australia New Zealand Canada Cape Colony Orange Free State South African Republic Commanders Redvers Buller Frederick Roberts Herbert Kitchener Paul Kruger Martinus Steyn Louis Botha Christiaan de Wet Casualties 22,000 6,500 Civilians killed [mainly Boers]: 24,000+ The Second Boer War, commonly referred to as... Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Volkstaat (Afrikaans for Peoples state) is a proposal for the establishment of self determination for the Afrikaner minority in South Africa according to federal principles, alluding to full independence in the form of a homeland for Afrikaners. ...

Union and after

The four British colonies formed the Union of South Africa in 1910, a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. National motto: Ex Unitate Vires (Latin: From Unity, strength} Official languages Afrikaans, Dutch and English. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

Achterbergh Declaration

2006-11-06/08, 127 representatives of the Reformed Church in Africa, The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, The Dutch Reformed Church in Africa and the Dutch Reformed Church met at Achterbergh near Krugersdorp to discuss the reunification of the family of DRC churches and how this can be realized. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... November 6 is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 55 days remaining. ... The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa was formed by the union of the black and coloured Dutch Reformed mission churches. ... The Dutch Reformed village church of St. ... Krugersdorp is a mining city in the West Rand of Gauteng, South Africa. ...

See also

• Afrikaner Calvinism

Afrikaner Calvinism is, according to theory, a unique cultural development that combined the Calvinist religion with the political aspirations of the white Afrikaans speaking people of South Africa. ...

Bibliography

• Dr. Gerrie van der Merwe (Red. Dr. Benno Zuiddam), Uit die Geskiedenis van 350 Jaar NG Kerk

• Hinchliff, Peter (1968). The church in South Africa. London: SPCK. ISBN 0-281-02277-1. 

External links

• Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk