20/12/2024
The beautiful NG church, pride of the main street of Prince Albert, needs a lot of maintenance and repairs. This is not surprising as the building dates back to 1860 and is therefore one hundred and sixty-four years old. It was built with the materials available at the time, clay bricks and no modern cement, and it still stands, but…
The congregation of the Prince Albert NGK was officially recognized in 1842, and the first buildings followed soon after, but were quickly deemed inadequate and later replaced. The first pastor was P. K. Albertyn who was appointed by Governor Napier and who served until 1858, to be followed for the next hundred and sixty plus years by many devoted and beloved ministers of The Word. One of the remarkable men of that time was Reverend A.J.L. Hofmeyr, 1883 to 1895. He loved music, and loved and encouraged participation, performances, literature, singing and all music plus the uplifting of all and was considered the center around which Prince Albert revolved. He was even imprisoned by the farmers for criticizing them and may have talked to Winston Churchill in the same Pretoria prison.
In 1943 there was a centenary celebration of the congregation and a most informative book on the history of the church was written by a person who called himself "a son of the congregation", who was he? For that matter it is not known who designed the church, who was the architect? However, it is known that land for the church was bought from the then owners of Kweekvallei - the Bothma's. The earliest seats in the church were bought by members for 3.4 "riksdaalders" for the front five rows, down to 2.4 "riksdaalders" for seats further back. Once the congregation was established, history was made, almost on a daily basis. Bazaars and fund-raising events began early on, and the church council and a number of committees met regularly to decide on this and that and to formulate policies on youth and the elderly, education, charity work, the care of the poor, any matter that the spiritual touched upon the needs of the community. Progress and improvements received constant attention. The famous clock was installed in 1878, in 1885 the railings around the site were completed and in 1886 the new organ was installed at a cost of £850. Annie De Wit (born Luttig) was the organist from 1892 to 1950 and received a clock as a gift. In 1937 the church was electrified. In 1988 the church was declared a National Monument. In 1992, the one hundred and fiftieth and in 2022 the one hundred and eightieth anniversary of the Prince Albert congregation of the NGK were largely celebrated. A new history book has been written, by P. J. and M. Botes, in which the names and photographs of almost every family in the district appear.
The church building has always been exclusively a place of worship and gathering of the faithful and wants to keep the character and use that way. Nevertheless, the church council recently decided to make the church building available for music festivals as part of her testimony to the outside. With this, the congregation sees its task as inviting the community to also experience something of the splendor and sanctity of this special place of worship. Could the first pastors imagine a crowded church where listeners can enjoy the art and beauty of music in different genres and be left in awe of the God-given talent of professional artists?
Indeed, the local congregation wants to be open, friendly and inviting towards all people. Reverend Hofmeyr would have liked the music! A place for everyone from Prince Albert, regardless of origin, to come together to share and be proud of what was started in 1842? But... nothing lasts forever.
There is hail damage to the tower, the clocks need painting, rain water is dripping into the main building, the window frames are in urgent need of repair plus all the plaster on the west wall is loose (old clay) and needs to be removed and replaced before it is completely crumbling and the gutters begging for help.
The above are just a few of the problems, and the whole building needs to be painted. Local builders, when approached for their involvement, said that the work was far more than they could undertake. Quotations were obtained from outside and the expenses to repair both the church building and hall amount to approximately R1.4 million. This goal lies far beyond the reach of the local congregation and lg. is therefore largely dependent on the good attitude of donors to preserve this cultural treasure of Prince Albert for future generations.
The congregation has already received a bequest of R500 000, which still leaves us with a deficit of R1 million. Every donation will be received with the greatest gratitude. Please mark donations: “Church Restoration”. We would like to keep donors informed of the progress of the project and would therefore appreciate it if you would provide us with your contact details.
Banking details: NG Kerk Prince Albert, ABSA Prince Albert, Code 334708, Acc nr 2640580006
email: [email protected]
