Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk
Encyclopedia
The Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church, abbreviated NGK) is a Reformed Christian denomination
in South Africa
. It also has a presence in neighboring countries, such as Namibia
, Swaziland
, and parts of Botswana
and Zimbabwe
. Originating in the 17th century from the Dutch Reformed Church
of the Netherlands
, it is the largest church within South Africa's Dutch Reformed tradition and, along with the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk
and the Reformed Churches in South Africa, is one of the three sister churches of South Africa. It claims 1.1 million members and 1,626 ordained ministers in 1,162 congregations.
When the Dutch East India Company
sent Jan van Riebeeck
to start a vegetable garden at the Cape of Good Hope
in 1652, most of the company's employees were members of the Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk. 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
in Amsterdam.
In 1688, 200 Huguenot
refugees arrived at the Cape. Though at first allowed to hold services in French, they were eventually assimilated into the Dutch-speaking population and became members of the Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk, 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).
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 Nerderlandse Hervormde Kerk and the Amsterdam presbytery was broken. The first British occupation was temporary, but in 1806 a long-term occupation was undertaken. For the next century, the 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 now renamed Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape. The Dutch Reformed Church was semi-established
, and the government helped with stipends of ministers.
-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
.
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 several independent republics in present day South Africa. Several of the republics in the land beyond the Vaal ("Transvaal") eventually merged to form the South African Republic
. Because the Cape Dutch Reformed Church was seen by the trekkers as being an agent of the Cape government, they did not trust its ministers and emissaries seeing them as part of the Cape government's attempts 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
. The Hervormde Kerk was constituted in 1824 whilst still in the Cape, and in 1860 recognised as the state church
of the South African Republic, separate from the Cape Church.
There was 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 Churches
. 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 churches in what would become South Africa—the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (the Cape Synod), the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (the state church of the South African Republic), and the Gereformeerde Kerk (led by Postma).
In the Cape Church meanwhile there was more controversy over theological liberalism
and 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 of Reformed "Lent
", between Ascension Day and Pentecost
, a custom that eventually spread beyond the confines of the NG Kerk.
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
. 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 Anglicise 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
.
has one of its objectives as to "remove obstacles in the unification process of the Verenigde Gereformeerde Kerk, Reformed Church of Africa and the Dutch Reformed Churches without legislative intervention".
, the Heidelberg Catechism
, and the Canons of Dordt.
The NGK has a presbyterian polity
with power divided between synods, presbyteries, and church councils. Church councils govern local congregations and are elected by members of the congregation. Local churches are organised geographically into 146 presbyteries which are further organized into synods. There are nine synods in South Africa, whose borders roughly resemble those of the provinces
, and one covering all of Namibia. Every four years, the 10 synods come together and meet as the General Synod. The office of the General Synod is in Pretoria, Gauteng Province.
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It also has a presence in neighboring countries, such as Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
, and parts of Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. Originating in the 17th century from the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, it is the largest church within South Africa's Dutch Reformed tradition and, along with the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk
Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk
The Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk is one of the Three Sister Churches in South Africa. It was the state church of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.The theology is in the Calvinist tradition-External Links:...
and the Reformed Churches in South Africa, is one of the three sister churches of South Africa. It claims 1.1 million members and 1,626 ordained ministers in 1,162 congregations.
Origins in the Cape Colony
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
sent Jan van Riebeeck
Jan van Riebeeck
Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town.-Biography:...
to start a vegetable garden at the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
in 1652, most of the company's employees were members of the Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk. 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
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
was formed but was still subject to the control of the classis
Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply...
in Amsterdam.
In 1688, 200 Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
refugees arrived at the Cape. Though at first allowed to hold services in French, they were eventually assimilated into the Dutch-speaking population and became members of the Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk, 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).
During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the British occupied the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
in 1795 to prevent the French from doing so. The French had occupied the Netherlands, and so the link between the Nerderlandse Hervormde Kerk and the Amsterdam presbytery was broken. The first British occupation was temporary, but in 1806 a long-term occupation was undertaken. For the next century, the 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 now renamed Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape. The Dutch Reformed Church was semi-established
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
, and the government helped with stipends of ministers.
Expansion and division
The colony had expanded a long way 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 XhosaXhosa language
Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...
-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
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in 1834 was another bone of contention. Afrikaner Calvinism
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....
was developing a different worldview to that of the British rulers, and many farmers left the Cape Colony in the Great Trek
Great Trek
The Great Trek was an eastward and north-eastward migration away from British control in the Cape Colony during the 1830s and 1840s by Boers . The migrants were descended from settlers from western mainland Europe, most notably from the Netherlands, northwest Germany and French Huguenots...
.
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 several independent republics in present day South Africa. Several of the republics in the land beyond the Vaal ("Transvaal") eventually merged to form the South African Republic
South African Republic
The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
. Because the Cape Dutch Reformed Church was seen by the trekkers as being an agent of the Cape government, they did not trust its ministers and emissaries seeing them as part of the Cape government's attempts 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
Dirk Van der Hoff
Dirk Van der Hoff was minister of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk, one of the Dutch Reformed Churches in South Africa.-Early life:...
, went to the Transvaal in 1853 and became a minister in the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk
Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk
The Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk is one of the Three Sister Churches in South Africa. It was the state church of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.The theology is in the Calvinist tradition-External Links:...
. The Hervormde Kerk was constituted in 1824 whilst still in the Cape, and in 1860 recognised as the state church
State church
State churches are organizational bodies within a Christian denomination which are given official status or operated by a state.State churches are not necessarily national churches in the ethnic sense of the term, but the two concepts may overlap in the case of a nation state where the state...
of the South African Republic, separate from the Cape Church.
Christian Reformed Churches
The Christian Reformed Churches are a Protestant church in the Netherlands with about 75,000 members.The original name of the church was Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands . The church was formed in 1869 by the merger of two churches, both separated from the Dutch Reformed Church in 1834...
. 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 churches in what would become South Africa—the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk (the Cape Synod), the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (the state church of the South African Republic), and the Gereformeerde Kerk (led by Postma).
In the Cape Church meanwhile there was more controversy over theological liberalism
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
and conservatism
Conservative Christianity
Conservative Christianity is a term applied to a number of groups or movements seen as giving priority to traditional Christian beliefs and practices...
. An evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
revival led by Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray (minister)
Andrew Murray was a South African writer, teacher, and Christian pastor. Murray considered missions to be "the chief end of the church."- Early life and education :...
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 of Reformed "Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
", between Ascension Day and Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
, a custom that eventually spread beyond the confines of the NG Kerk.
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
Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa
The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa was formed by the union of the black and coloured Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk mission churches.-Main markers in the URCSA'S history:...
. 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
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
(1899-1902) the NG Kerk played an important role in reconstruction and resisting the tendency of the British rulers to Anglicise 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
Afrikaner nationalism
Afrikaner nationalism is a political ideology that was born in the late 19th century around the idea that Afrikaners in South Africa were a "chosen people"; it was also strongly influenced by anti-British sentiments that grew strong among the Afrikaners, especially because of the Boer Wars...
.
Recent history
In recent years, there have been efforts at reuniting the various branches of South Africa's Dutch Reformed tradition. From 6 to 8 November 2006, 127 representatives of the Reformed Church in Africa, the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa and the Dutch Reformed Church met at Achterbergh near Krugersdorp to discuss the reunification and how this can be realized. The Dutch Reformed Churches Union Act Repeal Act, 2008 of the Parliament of South AfricaParliament of South Africa
The Parliament of South Africa is South Africa's legislature and under the country's current Constitution is composed of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces....
has one of its objectives as to "remove obstacles in the unification process of the Verenigde Gereformeerde Kerk, Reformed Church of Africa and the Dutch Reformed Churches without legislative intervention".
Doctrine and polity
Theologically, the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk is in the Reformed branch of Protestantism. It holds the Bible as authoritative Word of God by which all doctrine is judged. It has three doctrinal standards: the Belgic ConfessionBelgic Confession
The Confession of Faith, popularly known as the Belgic Confession, is a doctrinal standard document to which many of the Reformed churches subscribe. The Confession forms part of the Reformed Three Forms of Unity...
, the Heidelberg Catechism
Heidelberg Catechism
The Heidelberg Catechism is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine...
, and the Canons of Dordt.
The NGK has a presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply...
with power divided between synods, presbyteries, and church councils. Church councils govern local congregations and are elected by members of the congregation. Local churches are organised geographically into 146 presbyteries which are further organized into synods. There are nine synods in South Africa, whose borders roughly resemble those of the provinces
Provinces of South Africa
South Africa is currently divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated and the four existing provinces were divided into nine. The twelfth, thirteenth and sixteenth amendments to the constitution...
, and one covering all of Namibia. Every four years, the 10 synods come together and meet as the General Synod. The office of the General Synod is in Pretoria, Gauteng Province.