History was made in the Dutch Reformed Church last week when Tafelberg Congregation in central Cape Town announced that it had suspended its affiliation with the DRC which it accuses of unbiblical practices.
Tafelberg, which is one of over 100 DRC congregations in South Africa that have been officially “grieving” over liberal decisions of the DRC General Synod in recent years, has become the first to cut all ties with the liberal leadership of the DRC.
In the legal notice it posted on its Facebook page last Thursday, the congregation states that after four years of “grieving” in the hope that the DRC leadership would repent of their deviation from Scripture, it took the “inevitable” decision to suspend ties with the Presbytery of the Cape of Good Hope, the Synod of the Western and Southern Cape and the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church.
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According to the notice Tafelberg will retain “its identity as a Dutch Reformed Church as expressed in the Bible and the Confession”. It also says it will keep its people, building, finances and authority as a functioning church.
In the suspension notice it posted on Facebook Taflberg says its stands on the Bible as the Holy and infallibe Word of God. But it says the Western Cape, Southern Cape and national leadership of the DRC and theology lecturers at the University of Stellenbosch no longer faithfully proclaim and live out biblical doctrine but are influenced by the spirit of the times and reject biblical truth about marriage and sexuality, cohabitation outside of marriage and the existence of evil.
Kairos Netwerk (KN) says in a press statement published in the DRC news website Kerkbode, that Tafelberg has not suspended its connection with the Koinonia Synod (KS) of conservative DRC churches or with other conservative DRC congregations. Tafelberg joined the KS which was launched early last month as a spiritual home for DRC congregations who oppose the liberal stance of the General Synod but do not want to leave the denomination.
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Responding to Tafelberg’s disaffiliation, Dr Gustav Claasen general secretary of the DRC said: “This is a totally new situation, the first of its kind, which is also not accommodated by our current church order,” reports Kerkbode. He said the matter is currently being addressed by the presbytery and the local synod.
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