Nederduitse Gereformeerde Church Murraysburg

Murraysburg is not the thriving farming community it once was. Times are hard many young people have moved to away, however this church still has a very active flock.

Murraysburg, located at the foot of the Sneeuberg Mountainsin a scenic mix of mountains and plains, offers tranquility for environmentalists and eco-watchers. In the late 18th century a bloody and vicious war of revenge and retaliation raged for many years between the San and the farmers. Farms were attached, houses set alight, herdsmen murdered. Farmers went out on punitive missions and killed many of the San, who hunted the livestock of the farmers. The region was very unsettled by stock theft, murders and reprisal expeditions against the San. At the beginning of the 19th century, the San began to move towards the Kalahari and eventually the farm Eenzaamheid was bought from Mr Kootjie Burger. This farm became the town of Murraysburg. It was a “church town”, meaning that the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) exercised full control over the town and its inhabitants. The new town was named after the Reverend Andrew Murray, minister of the DRC in Graaff-Reinet. The “burg” derives from the Dutch word meaning “place of safety”.

One of the best, if not the best congregations led by one of the top pastors, Luanè McLachlan, in the country.