Beaufort West Reformed Church


The Beaufort West Reformed Church is a church in South Africa, founded on 16 May 1820. It is the ninth oldest congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Synod of Western and Southern Cape and the 12th oldest in the entire Church.
From Beaufort West, six daughter congregations seceded: Prince Albert, Victoria West, Fraserburg, Carnarvon, and Gamka Valley and Gamka-Oos on Beaufort-West itself.

Background

The first migrant farmers moved into the Koup and the Nuweveld in 1760, with the first farms laid out in the district of Beaufort West. The same year, the Hooyvlakte in de Carro farm was established, on which the town would later be laid out upon. The region remained extremely sparsely populated for many years.
By the end of the 18th century, some farmers already had livestock farms far north of the Nuweveld Mountains. Thus, the foundation was laid for the later parish, town and district of Beaufort-Wes and the parishes that were separated from the old mother parish over time.

Ministers

The following have been ministers of the church:
  1. John Taylor, 1818–1824
  2. Colin Fraser, 1825–1862
  3. Albert Zinn, 1864 – November 15 1866
  4. Willem Petrus de Villiers, 1868–1875
  5. Louis Hugo, 1876–1896
  6. Pieter van der Merwe, 1896–1904
  7. Gen. Paul Roux, 1905 – 8 June 1911
  8. J.G. Steytler, 1912–1920
  9. Johannes Rabie, 1921–1942
  10. André Francois Malan, 1941–1944
  11. Daniel Van Niekerk Theron, 1943–1944
  12. Jan Christoffel du Plessis, 1945–1951
  13. Lodewyk Petrus Spies, 1945–1948
  14. Jacob Andries Cornelius Weidemann, 1947–1949
  15. David Frederik van der Merwe, 1951–1961
  16. Johannes Jacobus van As, 1962–1968
  17. Charles Cumpries Bond, 1968–1972
  18. Daniel Nicolaas van Zyl, 1970–1974
  19. Bennie Meyer, 6 October 1972–1976
  20. Adriaan Albertus Terblanche, 1980–1998
  21. Japie van Straaten, 1998 – present