We are saved solely by the unconditional love of God in Jesus Christ
Pastor and church leadership
Dr Ronell Bezuidenhout
Pastor
Pastor Ronell Bezuidenhout has served as the pastor of this congregation in the Southern Cape for the past five years. Before joining our Lutheran family, she served as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church for 30 years. Ronell’s ministry is shaped by a deep love for for the church. In the simplicity and beauty of Holy Communion, where she places the signs of Christ’s grace into the hands of each person and calls each one by name, she experiences the profound privilege of being part of a close and caring faith community. Alongside her 50% pastoral ministry, Pastor Ronell continues her calling as a writer, creating theological reflections, devotional material, and resources that seek to bring God’s Word closer to people’s everyday lives. She lives in Great Brak River and also cares for her elderly parents.
Susanne Juling
Administrator
Her motto in life comes from Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd.
Die Here is my herder, niks sal my ontbreek nie. Ps. 23:1
Wolf von Kilian
Finances & Internal Communication
“ Prepare the way He is coming soon!”
Gerhard Eggers
Building commission
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Monika Lor
Outreach
Lass Hoffnung finden die da knien, Herr – so wie du mir die Hoffnung hast geliehen und mich gesegnet hast – und mit verziehen, Herr. Alma Johanna König
God’s love and His presence can be experienced in our personal and social life.
We minister to a widespread congregation covering the Garden Route from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay.
Here German “swallows” and Afrikaans, English and German-speaking visitors from up-country can join us to attend traditional Advent, Christmas Eve and Easter services, in addition to a regular worship service in German on the third Sunday of every month, with Holy Communion, followed by coffee, tea and traditional German treats. Every first Sunday of every month, at 10:00am, a worship service is held in English, with tea and coffee served afterwards.
ELCSA (Cape Church) is a member of United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (UELCSA), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA), the South African Council of Churches (SACC), Conventus Reformatus and the Western Cape Ecumenical Network (WCEN).
It has about 4,000 members in 21 congregations served by 11 pastors. There are currently three vacancies. The congregations are scattered throughout the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Free State provinces.
A CHURCH FOR A CHANGING SOCIETY
Everything around us changes daily, but one thing never changes: the love God has for the world!
The way God reaches the world is through the serving church – we are the hands and the feet of God.
The Ev-Luth. Congregation of the Southern Cape does not live in isolation. We want to be part of the:
- healing of our divided society;
- hospitality due to the expansion in the area;
- caring of the poor and elderly in our society;
- witnessing of Christ for a growing secularised world.
Founded through the reformation efforts of Martin Luther
The Lutheran Church was founded through the reformation efforts of Martin Luther (1483-1546), an Augustinian monk and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg in Germany.
An intensive study of the Old and New Testament opened Luther’s eyes to the fact that the Gospel that was being preached wasn’t biblical. The Lutheran faith places the biblical message of the crucified and risen Christ at the centre. Through Christ, God gives us a relationship with Him and He desires to remain our Lord in all seasons of our lives.
Everyday life forms an integral part of our Sunday services, where it is placed within the context of our relationship with God. We ask how God’s love and His presence can be experienced in our personal and social life. Worshipping the Lord strengthens our faith from day to day.
The History of The Southern Cape Evangelical Lutheran Congregation
1956Started holding worship services
In 1956, in response to a request from three German-speaking students at Saasveld (one of them our longstanding member, Hannes Scriba) to the ELCSA (Cape Church), pastors from Worcester started holding worship services for German-speaking Lutherans in and around George.1972Saasveld
In 1972, Hannes Scriba was appointed at the Saasveld college and from then on facilitated the holding of German Lutheran worship services at Saasveld, conducted by visiting pastors.1978The George (subsequently Southern Cape) Congregation was founded
The George (subsequently Southern Cape) Congregation was founded in 1978 to serve the growing German Lutheran community. It worshipped regularly at Saasveld and grew from strength to strength.1986Own church premises
By 1986 the Congregation realized a long-held dream and acquired its own church premises. A beautiful rural site of 1,8 hectares, with a modest church building and a large manse, located at Rondevlei Heights, was purchased from the Dutch Reformed Hoekwil congregation. Renamed the “Michaeliskirche” (St Michael’s Church), this became the hub of a German-speaking congregation, serving the Garden Route from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay, and the hinterland as far north as Prince Albert. However, it remained too small to afford its own pastor and was served by visiting pastors. Thanks to funding from the Evangelical Church of Germany the Congregation shared German pastors with nearby congregations of the Cape-Orange Diocese (COD) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Africa. By this time demographic changes were becoming evident. Pioneer members were growing older and passing on, but their children were moving away to the cities. The congregation was shrinking and becoming older. The Congregation responded i.a. by instituting English and Afrikaans language services.2020Half-time Pastor
When the last shared pastor retired, the Congregation had to consider its future and rethink its role as a Lutheran hub in the Garden Route. In 2020 the Synod of the Cape Church agreed to fund a half-time pastor’s post with a view to establishing a new model of outreach based in George, and in 2022 the church property at Rondevleihoogte was sold.2023New chapter
Thus, a new chapter awaits…- Prof Peter Lor compiled this brief history; it is largely based on a commemorative publication compiled by Hannes Scriba in 2009 and an update issued by him in 2016.
Liturgy
Our worship services form the heart of our congregational life. The order of the service follows a well structured Liturgy which forms an important and valuable part of the Lutheran Worship Service.
Sacraments
We celebrate two sacraments, namely baptism and the Lord’s supper.
All are welcome to receive the sacraments.
Garden Route
Our church is situated at our tempory home Stella Maris Harold's bay. We also enjoy the hospitality of other venues in the Garden Route.