The Somerset-East Reformed Church is the fourth oldest congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in the Synod of the Eastern Cape and the 15th oldest in the entire South African denomination.
Foundation Before the foundation of a separate congregation in Somerset East in 1825, the area was split between the Graaff-Reinet and the southern portion of the Uitenhage congregations. The magistrate, William MacKay, was the one who urged a separate congregation and church building. On May 27, 1825, only five months after the Governor of Cape Colony set up the drostdy ("district") Somerset East and Mackay as appointed its first magistrate, the latter wrote a letter to the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, expounding on his plan. The answer, while as private as the original letter, had to have been encouraging, since only a month after it was received, the magistrate and heemraad gave the official go-ahead.
The Church Ordinance of 1804, promulgated by then Dutch Commissioner-General Jacob Abraham de Mist and in effect until an 1843 Ordinance superseded it, gave the power to a public body to establish congregations in outlying districts on the government's behalf. At a meeting held in the Somerset Drostdy on July 9, 1825, it was decided to petition the governor to establish a church in the town. Since the Governor couldn't act on his own, he sought permission from Count Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, but the latter reported that there was not enough money in the colonial coffers to support a church being built.
First pastor and church council Permission was nevertheless granted to establish a separate congregation, and in October 1825, the Rev. George Morgan, one of the first six Presbyterian preachers from Scotland to come to the Cape to address its shortage of Afrikaner pastors and to help Anglicize the Boers, appointed a church council including the elders Robert Hart (also one of Somerset-East's first three heemraad) and F.J. van Aardt and the deacons Gideon Jordaan, Michael Bosch, Willem Prinsloo, and P.M. Bester. The first verger was Hendrik Waldeck, who lived on a salary of R25, "in addition to the various tithes and incomes he made presiding over baptism and weddings." "Fortunately, in those days people often married and had many children," wrote the Rev. Andries Dreyer in Gedenkboek van die Nederduits-Gereformeerde Kerk Somerset Oos ("Commemorative Book of the Somerset-East NGK Church"), "since his salary was nary a trifle."
The first lay reader was George Aldrich, who earned a somewhat higher salary than the verger. He soon resigned, though, and until his later reappointment was replaced by the townsman P.B. Botha. Botha couldn't be appointed permanently because this was a government post and he didn't speak English. A later reader was C. Muller. The reader's duty was to lead the liturgy, read the 10 Commandments, and sing hymns before the pulpit, since there were no musical instruments in the church at this time.
The congregation was overextended from its foundation. It included the districts of Bruintjes Hoogte, Zwagershoek, Baviaans Rivier, Oost-Rietrivier, and Boschjesmans Rivier. There was no official membership census, but an 1838 poll tallied 2,633 of them. The district had a large black population, and in 1825, hundreds of them settled in the district. They lived in poverty and worked for the farmers. Although slavery was still legal in the colony and there were slave owners in the district, it was forbidden to own black slaves. Conflicts arose between the groups, and in 1835 the church record notes "that brother Carel Mattheus was treacherously murdered in his home by an enemy gang." In the journal entry from April 16, 1835, the following is said of the matter: "With great sorrow and regret, we use these meeting minutes to preserve the memory of a reputable fellow whose humble and helpful life works were decorated by much Christian virtue."
First church building The congregation may have enlisted a pastor during its first year of operation, but it would be very long before it could secure its own church building. The magistrate had a good plan and the governor submitted and even sketched a plot of the building, but Count Bathurst continued to assert there were insufficient funds for the project.
Meanwhile, the congregation worshiped in one of the old government buildings on Somerset Farm. Somerset Farm was a gentleman's farm built by Lord Somerset in 1815, both to supply local colonial troops and to grow tobacco for export. It lay on a strip of land at the foot of the beautiful Boschberg Mountains, which had been purchased by the Governor Joachim van Plettenberg from its first owner, the aforementioned Willem Prinsloo.
Later, Somerset Farm was divided into two tenant farms for two farmers, Louis Trichardt and Mr. Bester. In 1833, Trichardt was the first Voortrekker to risk leaving the boundaries of the Colony. His tobacco farming was so successful that it came to the attention of the Governor, who then expropriated it for R200 (£165). The Governor hired a talented botanist, Dr. Mackrill, but tobacco cultivation was a failure under them. As sustenance for the troops, however, the farm was a success, especially under Robert Hart, Mackrill's successor since 1817. Granaries were built and cattle raised for export when needed.
The foundation developed as a store as well as a gentleman farm. Many people of all races were employed there, and in 1821, the Rev. William Shaw of the Wesleyan Church began preaching there; later, he would build a church there, continued by the missionary Revs. Stephen Kay and John Ayliff. This church was eventually transformed into a parsonage for the NGK church.
Later, the Governor granted permission to the congregation to worship in the old Drostdy. Apparently, the congregation was under the misconception that they would gain special treatment from Lord Somerset as the town's namesake. They constantly hounded him and his council for advice given that the church was a State Church and nothing could be done without their permission. The low treasury excuse continued to be used, however. The church council itself sought donations from the Colonial Secretary, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and other high-ranking officials, but the record shows no contributions from them. Therefore, the congregation learned that they had to help themselves.
Donation lists were then sent out to the people in the district in 1826. The congregation accepted cattle from those in the district who could not contribute money. With great difficulty, the list was returned two years later with a total of £560. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Richard Bourke, visited the town in September, and at this time the pastor Mr. Morgan and the elder Hart requested a piece of land for the church. After an inspection, he stood on a beautiful piece of land at the southern end of Beaufort Street.
It would be a long time before construction began, however, since in August 1828, the Governor replied to the church council's letter claiming the proposed building was too large and expensive and asking for a 300-seat church. The council unanimously declared this seating inadequate, since the house they were using already seated over 300 for a congregation of 5,698, and communion services were so overcrowded that some had to be turned away and others didn't even show up. The Governor at last conceded to the architect Shinnon's plan to provide 600 pews.
In 1829, the work on the new church still hadn't started and the temporary one was falling into disrepair, the Graaff-Reinet Ring sent a notice to the Governor asking to use the old Drostdy as a place of worship. The Governor approved the request, and on his arrival that September, the Rev. Morgan and elder Hart reiterated the need for a dedicated building. They later reported back to the Council that the Governor would be willing to grant a £700 loan to the congregation and convey their requests to London.
The request was granted, and therefore the congregation, using the loan and member contributions, began building. First on September 6, 1830, the blueprint was approved by the church with a 75 x 40 ft interior (23 x 12 m, or 276 m2), 20 f (6 m) height, and 2.5-ft (0.75-m) thick walls. The tower was to be 16 x 16 ft (4.89 x 4.89 m) in area. A door and four windows would be furnished each on the front and back sides. The masonry foreman was a Mr. Sandilands from Graaff-Reinet and H. Waldeck was contracted for R25 to haul 800 ft (244 m) of board from Kowie Bos. Bandits were dragooned to help with construction.
Keystone laid The keystone was finally laid on December 25, 1830. The date the church was consecrated is lost, but it eventually was though with great difficulty, given that notes of the church council meeting on September 2, 1833, have elder Hart asked why construction progress was going so slowly. A David McMaster was contracted to build the pews, but they were still unfinished by July 1837, when the council threatened him with a fine. It was decided that each member would pay for their own pew once the money charged to McMaster was exhausted. The pews were divided into three classes from front to back of the church. The most expensive cost R3/yr, the middle ones R2.5/yr, and the cheapest in the back R2. The donation drive was aimed toward an opening on January 1, 1834. In the early years, two services were held each Sunday, one in Dutch and on in English, until around 1846, when the St. Andrew's Uniting Presbyterian Church opened in town and English-language services at the NGK church were discontinued.
First three pastors Somerset-East's first pastor was the Rev. Morgan. He left for a post in the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa in Cape Town in 1841, and he was succeeded by the Rev. John Pears, invested on October 24 of that year. After Pears died in the parsonage, the Rev. Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (minister), who served from 1867 to 1908. Hofmeyr married a daughter of the Rev. Andrew Murray, and just like Ms. Hofmeyr's parents they had five sons who all became pastors. One of the sons, John Murray Hofmeyr, was curate from 1907 and succeeded his father as pastor from the latter's death the following year until 1940. Thus, in its first 115 years in existence, the congregation had only four pastors.
The Rev. Jan Hofmeyr's tenure The Rev. Hofmeyr and his family arrived on Thursday, March 28, 1867, in Somerset East. In the local Courant that day, the following was written on the heartfelt reception they received there:
A long and cherished dream of the Dutch congregation is finally fulfilled here by the arrival of their pastor, the Rev. J. H. Hofmeyr. The high esteem in which his parishioners in Murraysburg, and the sadness tempered with cordial well-wishes expressed by same, betray the loss of a friend and spiritual guide in him that will be difficult to replace. On Thursday morning, the 28th, a large community delegation which would have been much greater if the arrival time had been known, came to meet him in Somerset East.