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Congregational Church
Heidelberg, Western Cape
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Click to view map Coordinates: | The London Missionary Society had established the 'Caledon Institute' in the town of Zuurbraak in 1812. After some decades of neglect and dubious missionary endeavors the Reverant Daniel J Helms (1814-1873) was sent to minister to the congregants of Zuurbraak. His son Henry Charles Helms settled in the proximate area (which was to become the town of Heidelberg) in 1856. He bought a plot (where the Saint Barnabas Anglican Church now stands), where he built a homestead and trading store. On the property under a tree he he started Sunday services for the local community. The town authorities donated two stands for the erection of a church, which was inaugurated on 1859 05 11. At the time this congregation was in effect a satellite of the Zuurbraak congregation. With the death of Henry's brother Daniel, who had succeeded his father as missionary minister at Zuurbraak, in 1873 the congregation, who had in 1872 already elected for independence, seceded from the Zuurbraak Congregation as the 'Independente Kerk'. While in 1861 there had only been 19 congregants, including those members of the Helm family, by 1873 the church attended by 100 and more people. With the appointment of the Rev Thomas Gamble in 1884 the church was extended by a transverse wing to the north and the pulpit moved to the central cross-axis in the south. In 1977 the Church was expropriated by the state under the auspices of the Group Areas Act and title transferred to the Heidelberg Municipality. It was stripped of much of its interior, some of the pulpit embellishment being relocated to the new church in the so-called 'Coloured Township', while the yellow-wood pews disappeared to local farms stores. It was then used as a kindergarten school. With the land restitution under full democracy the church was returned to its congregation in 2007. It is at present (2021) being investigated for restoration. Books and articles that reference Congregational Church
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