Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa

Overview

The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk, NGK) is the historic Afrikaner Reformed church, traceable to the Cape settlement in 1652. The NGK subscribes to the Three Forms of Unity and has, since the 1990s, formally repudiated its earlier theological support for apartheid and pursued reunion with the former "daughter" churches of the black and coloured communities. The NGK ordains women, and in recent years has moved toward permitting same-sex unions at synodical level amid significant internal dispute. AskCredo places the NGK in the B-tier: confessionally Reformed in its doctrinal standards, with trajectories that have moved toward the progressive end of continental Reformed practice.

Confession / Standard

Three Forms of Unity; Heidelberg Catechism

Governance

presbyterian

Soteriology

reformed

Key Beliefs

• Reformed heritage
• Infant baptism
• Covenant theology

Distinctives

• Approved LGBTQ unions (2019, partially rescinded)
• Significant theological diversity — conservative and progressive wings
• Historical entanglement with apartheid theology

Background

Africa · Founded 1652

Official Website

https://ngkerk.org.za