Dutch Reformed Church, Wynberg

About

The Dutch Reformed Church in Wynberg is the 20th oldest Dutch Reformed Church congregation in the former Cape Province and the third oldest in the Cape Town metropolitan area, after the Groote Kerk (1665) and the Durbanville Dutch Reformed Church congregation (1826). Dr. Abraham van der Merwe, then moderator of the Cape Church, described Wynberg in 1954 on the congregation's 125th anniversary as "the oldest suburban congregation in the Cape Church"; therefore also in the entire Dutch Reformed Church.

The congregation was founded on 20 September 1829 when the first religious service was held under the leadership of the consultant, Dr. Abraham Faure, on the farm De Onder Schuur, later the official residence Westbrooke (since 1995 officially Genadendal), at that time the property of Mr. Egbert Andries Buyskes. This historic residence is currently located within the boundaries of the Dutch Reformed congregation Rondebosch. The first chief justice of the Cape Colony, Sir John Truter, is considered the father and founder of the congregation. The first church building was consecrated on 30 September 1832 and 10 years later enlarged by the addition of two wings. The enlarged church building was demolished in 1897 to make way for the present church building, which was consecrated on 17 March 1899.