ST ANDREWS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: PRETORIA

In October 1889 Revd James Gray, among the religious pioneers in the Transvaal during the late 1880’s, held inaugural services in the Pretoria Masonic Hall. A congregation was constituted by the Revd John Smith, which gave it the status to call a minister. Revd Gray accepted the invitation in January 1890, once a Supplementary Stipend Fund had been adequately subscribed. He was formally inducted to the St Andrew’s charge on 2 March 1890.

The first annual report of St Andrew’s (1890) described the difficulty experienced by the fledgling church to find a meeting place. This persuaded the Committee of Management to buy the present erf in Schoeman Street for £900. The Building Fund successfully raised enough money to build the St Andrew’s hall (a wood and iron building later known as the tin temple), which opened in June 1890. President Paul Kruger had laid the foundation stone at a festive ceremony earlier.

The full force of British imperialism was unleashed in the South African War of 1899 to 1902. Most of the activities at St Andrew’s were suspended during the conflict and many of the members, including the minister, were expelled from the Transvaal. Yet St Andrew’s was the only Presbyterian Church in the Boer Republic that never had to close its doors, and the remnant of the congregation continued to worship there under the guidance of a missionary, Robert Shemeld.

After peace was declared on 31 May 1902, the manse was built at St Andrew’s and a bazaar was arranged to meet the cost. Immediately after the war the membership stood at 237. Revd Gray was elected Moderator of General Assembly and travelled to Britain to represent the South African churches. It was hoped that the plans for a church building would be resumed once the hostilities had ended, but Revd Gray’s proposed Memorial Church to those Presbyterians who had died in the war had to compete with more urgent post-war schemes which had also been laid before the British Churches for sponsorship. Nevertheless, he was able to collect £1 500, part of which was later used to purchase the stained glass window in the chancel of the new church, when it was finally built in 1907.

In August 1906 the Earl of Selborne, Milner’s successor as High Commissioner in South Africa, laid the foundation stone of the present church building. And in December 1907 the building was officially opened and dedicated by the Moderator of General Assembly, the Revd Dr J J McClure of Cape Town. The cost of the building was £12 000, towards which £5 500 has been collected. The fine organ built by Norman and Beard of Norwich in England had been installed for the opening service. Since then many additions have been made to the instrument, mainly by John Yates, who was appointed organist in 1908 and who had a formidable musical reputation until his retirement in the early 1960s.