Rhenish Mission Church (Sarepta) - Kuils River

Aka: Uniting Reform Church, Sarepta

Built: 1843

Architect: Unidentified

Status: Extant

(Source: URC on Facebook)

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Timeline

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Location

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Notes

The Rhenish Missionary Society (named after the Rhine River region in Germany) was one of the largest German missionary organizations, formed by amalgamating smaller missions dating back to 1799 and officially established on 23 September 1828. Its first ordained missionaries were dispatched to South Africa by year's end, where they began work in various towns, focusing on conversion to Christianity and community support.

In 1829, the Society founded its first congregation in Stellenbosch, with Reverend Paul Daniel Lückhoff as the initial minister.

Jana (Johanna) van den Berg (c.1800 - 1860), also known as Moeder Jana, was a formerly enslaved woman who, like many others emancipated in 1838, settled in the sandy dunes surrounding Kuils River - an informal community with little access to formal institutions. She became one of the earliest members of the Rhenish congregation in Stellenbosch. With no local place of worship in Sarepta, she undertook the arduous journey on foot to attend Sunday services in Stellenbosch - often walking more than five hours each way. From 1831 to 1835, Reverend Paul Daniel Lückhoff travelled biweekly to Kuils River to hold services on the farm De Kuilen, owned by Petrus Jacobus (Piet) Bosman. After Bosman went insolvent in 1835, the new owner, Albertus Johannes Myburg, prohibited further services on the property. In response, Jana adapted her own home to serve as an informal gathering space for church services and early schooling. Her persistence and unwavering faith played a decisive role in advocating for a permanent local place of worship, ultimately convincing the Rhenish Missionary Society to prioritise the establishment of a church and school in Sarepta. (Vermaak)

"Op 27 Februarie 1842 het die sendelinge Lückhoff, J.G. Knab en Esselen van Stellenbosch Kuilsrivier besoek. Hulle was dit eens dat 'n kapel in die Duine gebou moes word: die "Capelle in den capschen Dünen", soos hulle dit genoem het. 'n Stuk grond van 7 hektaar, wat op 14 April 1814 aan Jan Bastard toegestaan is, is aan die Rynse Sendinggenootskap oorgedra teen die betaling van die verskuldigde bedrag, naamlik £22 10s. Dit was die plek waar Jana se oorspronldike hut gestaan het. Esselen het binne 'n kort tydjie onder vriende in Kaapstad £60 vir die bou van 'n kerk ingesamel. Toe die saak op Kuilsrivier bekend geword het, is uit baie oorde hulp ontvang: hout en stene is beskikbaar gestel, ook dekriet vir die dak; ander het geld of dienste en kundigheid aangebied." (Vermaak)

Construction of a church at Sarepta began in 1841, and the cornerstone was laid amid celebrations in 1842. It could seat 300 people. From the above, it appears that the original church had a thatched roof. 

On 20 April 1843, a storm caused the front gable to collapse. Esselen quickly raised enough money to restore the gable and build a school. In 1845 the mission station was named Sarepta.

(Source: Die Burger, 1992)

"Die inwoners van Sarepta het 'n karige bestaan gevoer. Dr. Wangemann het die huise in 1869 as nederige hutte beskryf, ook die van die sendeling. Die omgewing, afgesien van die sipresse om die huise, was dorre, steriele sandduine."

Moeder Jana died in 1860. Her property, consisting of approximately 20 morgen, was sold on 6 May 1858. It was divided into smaller erven (plots) and leased out at a rental of 36 shillings per year. Unfortunately, only a small portion was suitable for gardening; the largest part consisted of infertile sandy soil on which reeds grew, which were used for thatching roofs. Reverend Gerhard Terlinden, Esselen's successor, purchased Jana's little house - described as the "sanctified" (geheiligte) little house - and converted it into the missionary dwelling.

"Na die erediens op Sondag 23 November 1902, het Eerw. Spiecter van Duitsland die netjiese huise van die gemeentelede in die omgewing van die kerk gaan besoek. Rondom die sendingterrein van ongeveer 35 hektaar met sy skilderagtige kerk, die sendelingswoning en die mooi, ruim skoolgebou het die land egter braak gelê."

The distinctive white-washed gabled church, with its pillared arch enclosing the bell, remains a landmark in Sarepta. It operated as a Rhenish Mission Church for over a century before transitioning to the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in 1994 (formed by the merger of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church and Dutch Reformed Church in Africa). This mission station evolved independently from the main (predominantly white) Kuils River settlement.

Restoration work started in 2001 in phases: the hall was reused by October that year, the roof replaced in 2003, internal improvements followed (with services temporarily in the hall), and the main building reopened in 2005.

Sarepta Primary School

"It needs to be emphasised that Sarepta is not only the first and oldest school in Kuilsriver, it was also the first multiracial school in Kuilsriver and surrounding areas. Sarepta, the first school building was very small, namely, 50 feet by 15 feet. The first school building was erected on the place where the current Jana van den Berg Hall is situated." (Hamann)

The small school building gradually began to fall into disrepair. No money had been voted by the government for the buildings of mission schools. Thereupon, Rev. Rath himself took the initiative: the old wooden room was demolished, and in December 1890 the foundations of a new school building were laid. Some farmers in the neighbourhood and congregation members were requested to donate 500 or more bricks each. On Easter Monday, 30 March 1891, the school - consisting of two classrooms - was solemnly inaugurated.

"Tydens die inspeksie van April 1893 het mnr. Lee melding gemaak van die nuwe tweevertrekgebou, van die bevredigende beligting en ventilasie en van die netheid van beide klaskamers."

Sarepta High School

Sarepta High School, the first for Coloured learners in Kuils River, opened in January 1987.

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Sources

• Sarepta: SA History
• Kuils River History
• A Forgotten History: A Historical Overview of Kuilsriver Primary School 1908–2023. Hamann, G.
• Die Geskiedenis van Kuilsrivier. 1993. Vermaak, A.L. (Thesis)