St Mary's Anglican

Church Potchefstroom

 

 

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Services

Lay Ministers   Services
June Cilliers   Holy Communion every Sunday at 09h00 and Wednesday at 09h30
Clare Maloney  
Abel Modise   All Christian Festivals: Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter, Healing, Taizé.
Rob Trautmann  
Sharon Trautmann  
Faith Ferris  

Activities throughout the year

The Priest's Week
Sunday School Programs Monday
Youth programs Day Off
Cell Groups Tuesday
Intercessions Study and Prayer - available in the afternoon
    Lay Ministers Wednesday
    Council Members Eucharist at 09h30
    Community Members Thursday
The Church is available for weddings, counseling, prayer and meditation,
funerals, baptism etc.
Evening prayer & Intercessions at 18h00
  Friday
Music Groups Office
    Organists and choir Sunday
      Service

History

In the earliest days, when Potchefstroom first was established as a little village in 1841 there were no members of the Church but it was not long before English traders began to arrive. In 1859 Mr. Stamp and Mr. A.C. Ricketts arrived from Graaff Reinett and settled here permanently.

English speaking people were anxious to have services in their own language and after some years the Anglican Church awoke to its responsibilities. Bishop Gray had been consecrated the first Bishop of the Cape in 1847. In 1850 he visited Bloemfontein and he placed a chaplain there. Then, at last in February, 1862 the first Bishop of the Orange Free State, Bishop Twells, arrived. He visited Potchefstroom, and no doubt, this was the first Anglican service to be held in this parish. The Rev. W. Richardson arrived early in 1865 to begin the first work of the Church beyond the Vaal River.

First church

The community though small , set to work to build a little church and Rectory. At first they had to hire a disused store in which to hold services. On March 25th 1867 President Marthinus Wessel Pretorius laid the foundation stone of the first Church and Bishop Twells blessed it.

It was not a very large building holding at most 80. It had a high pitched thatched roof, lancet windows, and a mud floor and no ceiling. It cost about £450. A couple of years later, alongside was built a tiny rustic parsonage.

In 1871 a Swede, named Mouberg died and left everything he possessed to St. Mary's. The curch building was in a very bad state of disrepair and the present site of the church was bought and plans for a larger stone church were made.

At the beginning of the building everything went well ,but in August the Chanel Arch fell. Mr. J.W. Gaisford, who was connected with the church for 40 years stepped in. In August 1891, £3,400 had been spent but the church was still unfinished.

Alfred Roberts was made a Canon of St. Albans Cathedral Pretoria when he was transferred to Potchefstroom. A few weeks later his title was changed to Archdeacon of Potchefstroom. In 1896 the new Rectory was completed. It had been made possible by a bequest of £200 by Miss Farnsworth and Captain Hugh Bailie who lent the rest of the £250 to complete the building.

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Taizé

On the first Sunday of every month (except January) at 18H30, a beautiful Taizé Service is held at St Mary’s Anglican Church, Auto Lane, Potchefstroom. Taizé is a beautiful restful village in the heart France, and is the home of a community of Christian Brothers whose of life embodies a fresh and new way of living out their Christian faith through reconciliation.

The Community at Taizé began in 1940 when, at the age of twenty-five, Brother Roger Louis Schütz-Marsauche left Switzerland, the country where he was born, to go and live in France, the country his mother came from. For years he had been ill with tuberculosis, and during that long illness there had matured within him the call to create a community that focusses on Love and charity towards those whom the world had seem to forgotten.

Today, the Taizé Community in Burgundy France is made up of over a hundred brothers from different Christian denominations and various backgrounds, coming from around thirty nations. By its very existence, the community is a “parable of community” that wants its life to be a sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and between separated peoples.

For most of us, our first encounter with Taizé is through its music, an essential part of the worship there. "With the help of the musician Jacques Berthier, friend of Taize, different methods were tried out, and a solution was found in the use of repetitive structures, namely, short musical phrases with singable melodic units that could be readily memorized by everybody... The use of some very simple words in basic Latin (a language without allegiance to any particular culture or tradition), supports the music and the theme of prayer. The music of Taize seems to appeal to young and old, regardless of nationality, culture or religious tradition.

It is the Word of God set to music -- its constant gentle repetitive quality allows deep contemplation and prayer on the sentiments that it expresses. Taizé worship makes use of abundant candle light and symbolism in aiding the soul in prayer. During the service the soul is refreshed as one finds rest and peace in God.

St Mary’s Anglican Church in Potchefstroom is in the blessed position to provide such a service to the community once a month. Anyone interested in finding rest in God, while experiencing the freshness and beauty of Taizé worship is most welcome to attend. The service is ecumenical but takes the form of the Anglican Evensong. All song and chant is accompanied by the Potchefstroom Taize Ensemble and led by Soloists from the North-West University’s School of Music. The service is free of charge, although an offering is taken up.
For further information about the services held at St Mary’s please contact 018 294 8066 or visit us on facebook at St Mary the Virgin Potchefstroom. Additional information concerning Taizé can be found on the Taizé website www.taizé.fr

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Contact Us

For further enquiries please contact
(018) 294 8066.

Auto Street, Potchefstroom,
South Africa, 2531