Elim, Moravian Church

Abstract

Photographs and information on the church bell of the Moravian Church in Elim, Overberg District. Outside the Moravian Church of Elim in a horseshoe construction we find another important bell. For its religious inhabitants, the true centre of Elim is this moderately decorated church that did not change much since it was built. The only decoration on the bell is found between the two top pairs of moulding wires and reads 1833 According to information locally acquired, the bell had been given to the mission by a Cape Christian group in 1835. In the gable wall of the church, there is a 235 year old clock, still keeping the exact time. The clock is accompanied by two half spherical shells that serve as bells. In official documents it has been mentioned that the church bell dates from 1764, was originally placed in the city of Ochranov, the centre of Moravian Church and acquired in 1914. Knowing that the mission was only started in 1824, this “bell” refers to the clock in the gable wall rather than the church bell. Moreover, it sounds improbable that any of the Moravian missions in South Africa would have a bell from 1764. The bell in the horseshoe tower is not the original one of Elim. The first meeting at Elim between the appointed pastor, the Rev. Bonatz, and the residents, occurred on 12th May 1825. Referring to this meeting, the pastor of Genadendal at that time, Rev. Halbeck, writes in one of his letters “Brother Bonatz hopes that some of the houses will be finished by the 12th of May, when he proposes to have a solemn meeting with the inhabitants, to which I am invited. … A merchant of Cape Town has made a present of a fine bell for Elim, which we wish to have hung when the houses are finished.”. According to the current Curator of the Elim Museum, this is the bell still hanging at the entrance to the parsonage. The current bell, dated 1833, was therefore a second bell. Its origin is not known, but it was probably donated by the Cape Christian group for the inauguration of the first church building in 1835.