page_title: Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK)
section_title: Origins in the Cape Colony
hierarchical_section_title: Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) / History / Origins in the Cape Colony
caption_attribution_description: English: The interior of Die Groote Kerk, Cape Town
context_page_description: The Dutch Reformed Church is a Reformed Christian denomination in South Africa. It also has a presence in neighbouring countries, such as Namibia, Swaziland, and parts of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. In 2013 it claimed 1.1 million members and 1,602 ordained ministers in 1,158 congregations.
  The Nederduits in the denomination's Afrikaans name refers to the old nomenclature for the Dutch language, 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 of the Netherlands, the NGK is the largest denomination within South Africa's Dutch Reformed tradition. Along with the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa and the Reformed Churches in South Africa, it is considered one of the three sister churches of South Africa.
context_section_description: When the Dutch East India Company 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 and became its first minister. A consistory was formed but was still subject to the control of the classis (presbytery) of 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 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).
  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 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 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.
caption: The interior of the Groote Kerk
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