Strooidakkerk

The Strooidakkerk is the third oldest congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. The congregation was formerly known as Drakenstein.^[1]

The congregation's origins are a result of the arrival of the French Huguenots to South Africa in 1688. They initially belonged to the NG congregation of Stellenbosch, but in 1691 they were formed into a separate congregation, then Drakenstein.^[2][3]

The first place of meeting was located somewhere in the vicinity of Simondium in a small building of wood and clay that some described as a "dirty hut" or "a giant". Here the Rev. Pierre Simond, who came to the Cape with the Huguenots, preached in elegant French, until he preached his last sermon at the Cape in April 1702 and returned to Europe.^[4]

Under the leadership of Rev. Petrus van Aken, a proper church building was erected in 1717, partly with the help of a bequest from the well-known Henning Huising. It probably stood on the north side of the present church building, where the grave of Rev. R.N. Alting (minister from 1784 to 1800) is. In 1805, the present church building was erected in the old Cape Dutch style, which is still known today as the Strooidakkerk and is the oldest church building in South Africa still in use as such.^[5]

The Pentecostal vigil, which is today a custom throughout the Dutch Reformed Church, originated from a week of prayer between Ascension Day and Pentecost Sunday in 1861.