Dalziel, John

2018-05-22T12:38:12Z

2018-05-22T12:38:12Z

1957

When the Presbyterian Church of South Africa was formed in 1897, the area covered by the new Church was all Africa South of the Zambesi Paver, At the time of the Union of the Churches, this vast area was divided into the following Presbyteries, viz* Transvaal, Natal, £ape, Free Church Presbytery of Kaffraria, Free Church Presbytery of Tanskei, United Presbyterian Presbytery of Kaffraria, United Presbyterian^ Presbytery of Adelaide. By the year 1897 there had grown up within these Presbyteries 56 English Speaking European Congregations (all 56 did not survive until 1897) and it has been the aim of this Thesis to show how these Presbyteries and Congregations originated and grew from 1806 to 1897. THE CANE PRESBYTERY: Presbyterian Ordinances of Worship among English speaking persons in South Africa owe their origin to The Calvinist Society formed in 1806 among the soldiers of the 93rd Regiment. Prom this Society there was formed in 1815 the first Presbyterian Congregation in Cape Town. This Church became Congregationalist in 1819 but the Presbyterians began again in 1824, and, by 1829 they had built St. Andrews Church, Cape Town, and called a new minister. As a result of the work of this Congregation, four Churches and two Preaching tationo were established by 1897. In addition, the Free Church of Scotland had established three Churches within the Cape' Presbytery area in 1846, 1859 and 1861. Due to lack of support these three Congregations had had to close down long before 1897. The Cape Presbytery was not formed until 1893. THE PASSIONARY PRESBYTERIES: The Glasgow Missionary Society sent Missionaries to the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony in 1824 and they formed themselves immediately into the Presbytery of Kaffraria. In 1857 this Presbytery split into two sections over the Voluntary Question and in 1843 the one section became the Free Church Presbytery of Kaffraria and in 1847 the other section became the United Presbyterian Presbytery of Kaffraria. In 1889 both of these Missionary Presbyteries split into two forming United Presbyterian Presbytery of Adelaide and Free Church Presbytery of Transkei. Four English speaking European Congregations v#ere established within the Free Church Presbytery of Kaffraria, while another four congregations were established within the United Presbyterian Presbytery of Kaffraria. In addition, five Independent Presbyterian Congregations were established within the area of the Missionary Presbyteries. In addition to these European Congregations more than 20 Native Mission stations, together with numerous outstations, were established within these 4 Presbyteries between 1824 and 1897. THE PRESBYTERY OF NATAL: The English speaking Presbyterian Church of Natal began in 1850 when Rev. I, Campbell accepted a call from a group of Scotsmen in Pieternaritzburg, whom he constituted into a congregation. The Presbytery of Natal was constituted for the first time in 1853 in order to ordain Rev. C. Scott called to the recently formed congregation in Pinetown. Within the bounds of this Presbytery 12 congregations were formed by 1897. PRESBYTERIES IN THE TREKKER REPUBLICS (O.P.S. AND TRANSVAAL): When gold was discovered in Barberton in 1885 the Natal Presbytery sent Rev. James Gray to investigate the possibility of starting a congregation among the miners. On his recommendation, a congregation was established in Johannesburg in 1887. Two more congregations were established along the Gold Reef and one which started at Klerksdorp had to close down, in 1892. By 1893 Natal Presbytery realised they could not cope with the development in the Transvaal and they erected the Transvaal Presbytery. By the time the Presbyterian Church of South Africa was formed in 1897» 10 congregations had been started in the Transvaal and 2 in Rhodesia. In addition to the Transvaal and Natal Congregations the Natal Presbytery was responsible for the establishing of 2 congregations within the Orange Free State. These Churches, together with the independent Presbyterian Congregations of Kimberley and Beaconsfield, were erected into the Orange River Presbytery in 1898. In the same year (1898) 4 other congregations were established within the Orange River Presbytery, but their origins date back to 1897. THE STEPS TOWARDS UNIOMN: Two attempts were made to unite the Dutch Reformed Church and the English Speaking Presbyterians prior to 1860, but with no result. From 1881 to 1886 attempts were made to unite Free Church and United Presbyterian Presbyteries of Kaffrarla but these efforts also ended in failure. Prom 1892 to 1897 Federal Council Meetings, including representatives from all the Presbyteries in South Africa, were held. These meetings resulted in a vote in favour of Union at the 6th Federal Council in 1897. The Free Church Synod of Kaffraria refused to become part of the new church thus formed.

http://hdl.handle.net/1842/30153

The University of Edinburgh

Annexe Thesis Digitisation Project 2018 Block 19

Already catalogued

Origins and growth of Presbyterian ordinances of worship among English speaking European South Africans prior to the formation of the Presbyterian Church of South Africa in 1897

The origins and growth of Presbyterian ordinances of worship among English speaking European South Africans prior to the formation of the Presbyterian Church of South Africa in 1897

Thesis or Dissertation

Doctoral

PhD Doctor of Philosophy