Academic literature on the topic 'First Presbyterian Church (Watertown, N.Y.)'

In 2017 the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika (NHKA) celebrates its centenary of theological education at the University of Pretoria (UP). In this article the focus is on the build-up to setting up the first 50 years 1917– 1967 at UP. From as early as 1909 there was a yearning for our own theological seminary; however, some of the church leaders expressed their desire for theological education at a university. At the dawn of 1916 everything was in place for the NHKA and the Presbyterian Church of South Africa, as the first two partners, to start a faculty of theology at the Transvaal University College (TUC). On 01 April 1917 the Faculty of Theology commenced its work with prof. J.H.J.A. Greyvenstein of the NHKA and prof. E. MacMillan from the Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterian link with the faculty was broken in 1933. From 1938 the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) joined the NHKA and two independent sections were established: Section A for the NHKA and Section B for the NGK. There was a steady growth in the number of students and professors and on 13 June 1967 the NHKA filled its sixth professorship in the person of prof. I.J. de Wet. This era was also characterised by a lot of political tension in the heyday of the policy of apartheid. The NHKA was known for Article III in its constitution that propagates that church membership was for whites only. The NHKA support of the policy of apartheid was the cause of a dispute between the Church and prof. A.S. Geyser. In the end the matter was settled in favour of Geyser. There was also a dispute between professors A.G. Geyser and A.D. Pont that ended up in court in 1967. Pont was accused of defamation against Geyser. The court ruled against Pont and Geyser was granted the largest amount of compensation up till then.

Parish meeting as a distinctive manifestation within the NHKA: A church historical and a church polity investigationThe parish meeting as a distinctive manifestation within the Neder-duitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika also had a distinctive form of development, a development that spanned the period from the national gathering on 8 February 1837 until the acceptance of a new church ordinance in 1997. It first served as an emergency measure during which the future existence of the NHKA was discussed and ensured by the gathering of the faithful. Systematically, from the perspective of church polity, the parish meeting achieved a basis that was also accountable in terms of the church ordinance. The parish meeting forms part of the Hervormde Kerk’s religious practice, that is a normal manifestation of the Presbyterian-synodical Church concept that is respected in the NHKA.