The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NGK) is a Reformed Christian denomination in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It also has a presence in neighbouring countries, such as

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, Eswatini, and parts of

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

.Map of NGK Synods
. NGK official website. Accessed 9 July 2014. In 2013 it claimed 1.1 million members and 1,602 ordained ministers in 1,158 congregations.NGK official English website
. Accessed 9 July 2014. The ''Nederduits'' in the denomination's Afrikaans name refers to the old

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal conventions of everyday speech to the internationally ag ...

for the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...

, formerly written as ''Nederduitsch'' in Dutch. This not to be confused with the literal translation Low German, which is a dialect in the north of Germany. It is therefore correctly referred to as the "Dutch Reformed Church" in South Africa. Originating in the 17th century from the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) 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 ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, the NGK is the largest denomination within South Africa's Dutch Reformed tradition. Along with the

Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK) The Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (, abbreviated NHKA) 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) an ...

and the

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''. History of the Gereformeerde Kerke in South Africa In ...

, it is considered one of the three sister churches of South Africa.

History

Origins in the Cape Colony

Groote Kerk Adderley Street Cape Town - Frontal view

When the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

sent Jan van Riebeeck to start a Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, most of the company's employees were members of the Dutch Reformed Church. At first there were no ordained ministers from the Netherlands but only a sick comforter. In 1665, Johan van Arckel arrived in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

and became its first minister. A

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church * Consistor ...

was formed but was still subject to the control of the classis (presbytery) of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. In 1688, 200

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

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 Dutch Reformed Church, which had a monopoly in territory controlled by the company. An exception was eventually allowed for a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

church in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

(many of the company's employees were German). During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, 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 church in the colony and the Amsterdam classis 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 Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

ministers from Scotland were encouraged to serve the needs of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape. The church was semi- established, and the government helped with stipends of ministers.

Divisions (1853–1859)

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

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

-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 Afrikaner Calvinism ( af, Calvinisme) is a cultural and religious development among Afrikaners that combined elements of seventeenth-century Calvinist doctrine with a "chosen people" ideology based in the Bible. It had origins in ideas espouse ...

was developing a different worldview to that of the British rulers, and many farmers left the Cape Colony in the

Great Trek The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyon ...

during the 1830s and 1840s. 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 The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

") eventually merged to form the

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

in 1852. Because the NGK 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

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

's attempts to annex the Boer Republics. A minister from the Netherlands,

Dirk Van der Hoff A dirk is a long bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), ''Dagger'', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729 Historically, it gained its name from the Highland Dirk (Scot ...

, went to the Transvaal in 1853 and became the first minister of the newly established Dutch Reformed Church (NHK), which became the state church of the South African Republic in 1860. Wolmaransstad-NG Kerk-001

There were also religious divisions among the trekkers themselves. The more conservative ones (known as Doppers) were opposed to singing hymns that had not been determined to be scripturally pure in church. There was controversy in the Netherlands over hymn singing as well resulting in a group breaking away from the Dutch Reformed Church to form the

Christian Reformed Churches The Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands ( nl, Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland) is a Protestant church in the Netherlands. History The original name of the church was Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands ('' ...

. A minister from this group, , traveled to the South African Republic and was accepted as a minister of the NHK. After learning that he and his congregation could be required to sing these untested hymns, however, he and the Doppers broke away from the state church to form the

(GK) in 1859. There were thus now three Dutch Reformed churches in what would become South Africa—the NGK (the Cape Synod), the NHK (the state church of the South African Republic), and the GK (led by Postma).

Expansion (1860s–1902)

In the NGK meanwhile there was more controversy over theological liberalism and

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

. An

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

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 NGK 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 ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

", between Ascension Day and Pentecost, a custom that eventually spread beyond the confines of the NGK. The revival also led to an interest in mission work which led to the establishment of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church for

coloureds Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

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 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 In 1652 the Dutch formed a halfway station at the Cape, which ...

. The NGK 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 The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

(1899–1902) the NGK played an important role in reconstruction and resisting the tendency of the British rulers to anglicise the

Afrikaners Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cas ...

. 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 ( af, Afrikanernasionalisme) is a nationalistic political ideology which created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afrik ...

Recent history

The Church supported

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and in 1982 was expelled from the

World Alliance of Reformed Churches The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) was a fellowship of more than 200 churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation, and particularly in the theology of John Calvin. Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland. They are now merged ...

which declared apartheid to be a sin. In 1986 during the General Synod the church changed its stance on apartheid and opened its doors to people of all races (the Andrew Murray ministry within the Dutch Reformed Church, since its inception, had its doors open to people of different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities). After various processes the Church has been accepted back into the

. 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 GK, the Uniting Reformed Church 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 Africa has one of its objectives as to "remove obstacles in the unification process of the Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk, Reformed Church of Africa and the Dutch Reformed Churches without legislative intervention".

Doctrine and polity

Theologically, the Dutch Reformed Church is in the Reformed branch of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. It holds the Bible as authoritative Word of God by which all doctrine is judged. It has three doctrinal standards: the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the

Canons of Dordt The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, is the judgment of the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618–1 ...

.Confessions of the NGK
. Official English website. Accessed 14 July 2010. The NGK has a

presbyterian polity Presbyterian (or presbyteral) polity is a method of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") 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 ...

with power divided between synods, presbyteries, and church councils. Church councils govern local congregations. Local churches are organised geographically into 146 presbyteries ("rings") which are further organized into synods. 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. There are ten synods, whose borders roughly resemble those of the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of South Africa plus Namibia. They are: * Western and Southern Cape Synod (

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province and the southern and western parts of the Northern Cape province), * Eastern Cape Synod ( Eastern Cape province) * Northern Cape Synod (northern part of the Northern Cape province, the western part of

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

province, and the southern part of

) * Natal Synod ( KwaZulu-Natal province) * Free State Synod ( Free State province) * Western Transvaal Synod (eastern part of the North West province and the southern part of the

Gauteng province Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1 ...

) * Northern Synod (most of the

Limpopo province Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

, eastern part of Botswana, parts of

, and the eastern part of the

Caprivi Strip The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is surrounded by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a s ...

) * Highveld Synod (south-eastern part of Gauteng province and south-western part of Mpumalanga province) * Eastern Synod (most of the Mpumalanga province, the south-eastern part of Limpopo province, and Eswatini) * Namibia Synod (all of Namibia except for the eastern Caprivi Strip)

Current issues

Individual church councils may decide for themselves how specific current issues that are not dealt with in the six officially accepted confessions of faith are dealt with within the congregation. This can lead to widely differing approaches on issues such as marriage, gambling, sexuality, sins in general, social issues, etc. between congregations. Both the General Synod and the regional synods may pronounce an official statement on certain issues, which local church councils broadly follow. There can be marked differences between the synods with regard to social issues. When an issue has a wide range of opinions, the synods and the General Synod releases "discussion documents" which are intended to move the opinion of congregations in some direction.

Homosexuality

Milestone decisions about homosexuality were taken in 1967, 1982, 1986, 2004, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The 1986 and 2004 decisions were broadly similar to each other, but the 2015 decision was dramatically different, and was reported in the media under headlines such as "Gays now welcome in NG Church", even though strictly speaking homosexuals had been welcome since 1982. The 2016 decision reversed most of the 2015 decision; local congregations are still able to decide to support same-sex unions. In 2019, a secular court overturned the 2016 decision and allowed the blessing of same-sex unions to resume. Traditionally, and certainly prior to the end of Apartheid, the NG Church held the view that homosexuality is a mental health issue or a sinful state of being. No distinction was made between homosexuality and homosexual activity, as both were regarded as either a psychological illness or a deliberate decision to sin. The 1982 General Synod declared that homosexual sex is sinful and that homosexuals may not participate in the Lord's Supper or become elders, deacons or pastors, regardless of whether they have sex. The 1986 General Synod confirmed that homosexual sex and homosexual relationships are sinful, but declared that homosexuals may use the Lord's Supper and may become elders, deacons or pastors, if they are otherwise eligible. The 1986 decision confirmed the existence of homosexuality as a sexual orientation, but labelled it a deviant form of sexuality. By 1990, the mood was changing, and the 1990 General Synod appointed a committee to investigate the validity of the 1986 decision. The 1994 and 1998 General Synods did not deal with the issue. By the 2002 General Synod, the synod indicated that it was doubtful about the 1986 decision. The 1986 decision was formally withdrawn in 2004, although in practice the 2004 decision (which replaced the 1986 decision entirely) was the same as the 1986 decision.http://www.kerkargief.co.za/doks/navorsing/Selfdegeslag1982_2015.pdf The church's previous stance on homosexuality was published in 2004, and confirmed by the 2007 and 2013 General Synods. The 2004 decision was that homosexuality is not a deviant form of sexuality, and that homosexuals may become active members of the church (including becoming ministers). The decision also states that homosexuals may not marry in the same gender, and that all sex outside of marriage is sinful. Due to changes in South African legislation concerning marriage and civil unions, the 2007 General Synod clarified that it does not regard homosexual civil unions and homosexual legal marriages as "marriage", and that homosexuals may only become pastors if they don't have sex. The 2004 decision was formally withdrawn in 2015. The 2015 General Synod decided that sex outside of marriage is no longer sinful, as long as both partners live good Christian lives and are committed to each other. This applies to both homosexuals and heterosexuals. The church recognises South African civil unions, but does not regard legal marriage between homosexuals as Biblical marriage – instead, the church regards legally married homosexuals as simply having a formalised, committed sexual relationship. The 2015 decision caused a backlash of appeals and objections. In November 2015, the decision was suspended, initially to be discussed again at the 2017 General Synod. However, on 7 September 2016, the suspension was lifted and at the same time an Extraordinary Synod was called, which was held in November 2016. The extraordinary synod reversed much of the 2015 decision officially. Therefore, the current view on homosexuality of the NGK is: * Marriage is a commitment between one man and one woman. * Sex outside of marriage is sinful, and therefore gay sex is sinful. * No-one may be excluded from participation in church activities owing to their sexual orientation. * No-one may be excluded from becoming a minister, elder or deacon owing to their sexual orientation. ** There are currently ministers who are openly gay or lesbian * Congregations are allowed to deny employment to married gays. * Congregations are allowed to deviate from any of these decisions if they believe that that is what God wants. Progressive members of the clergy and laity have taken the denomination to court to restore the decision from 2015 and reject the reversal. Although the decision was reversed, local congregations, as aforementioned, are able to make their own decisions. The church's reversal still "makes allowance for ministers and parishes to make their own decision around this. It is stated that no decision may be forced on any parish". In 2019, the secular Gauteng High Court, in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

ruled to reverse the 2016 decision and decided that ministers should bless same-sex unions and that gay and lesbian ministers could marry and be ordained. This decision was reached, in part, on the basis that, while religious organizations have the religious freedom to define marriage, the 2016 decision was not made in accordance with the church's own proper process. The General Secretary Gustav Claasse told the press that, despite the court decision the church will hold to its 2016 official stance against same-sex marriage.

Abortion

Prior to 1994, the church's view on abortion was broadly aligned with South African legislation, namely that

forced abortion A forced abortion may occur when the perpetrator causes abortion by force, threat or coercion, or by taking advantage of a situation where a pregnant individual is unable to give consent, or when valid consent is in question due to duress. This m ...

was only acceptable if there was immediate danger to the mother's life, or if the conception was due to rape that had been reported to the police. The 1982 General Synod declared that abortion is indefensible on both Biblical and scientific grounds, and that abortion is always "the termination of a life". The church believes that life begins at conception, and that using contraceptives that cause a fertilised ovum to be expelled is therefore also sinful. At the 1986 General Synod, a proposal was considered to draw up a list of exceptional cases in which abortion might be allowable. After consultation with experts, including medical experts, the synod decided to base their stance on abortion solely on the Bible and not on medical evidence or on a list of exceptions. By 1994, with the election of a new government and the adoption of a new constitution in South Africa, it became apparent that abortion on demand may be legalised, and the church was forced to re-examine and restate its stance. Abortion on demand became legal in South Africa in 1997. The church's current decision on abortion was taken at the 1994 General Synod. The church regards all types of abortion as sinful, including involuntary abortion. However, in cases where abortion is "unavoidable", it is sufficient that the mother protest against the abortion, confess her guilt, and feel genuine remorse. Assisting in an abortion is also sinful. An official publication from 1999, "Geloofsverklaring", which deals with various current issues, stated however that while abortion on demand is morally indefensible, abortion should not be denied in cases where it is the "lesser of two evils".

References

External links

www.ngkerk.org.za Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa Official Website
{{Authority control Protestantism in South Africa Reformed denominations in Africa Dutch-South African culture 1824 establishments in the Cape Colony