Kannaland, Grootrivier, Kerkplaas, Lutheran Church

Abstract

The Lutheran Church of Kerkplaas used to be a mission church belonging to the Berliner Missionary Society (BMS). We have been able to get useful information on this fourth outstation of the mission in Laingsburg. The station was originally called Grootrivier but later changed its name into Kerkplaas. More information on the activities of the mission will be included in a forthcoming publication. The outstation in Grootrivier saw its church inaugurated in 1880. The pastor Johann Prozesky had good relationship with the Boere. He succeeded not only to build the new church but also to receive a harmonium, a bell and outfits for the altar. The bell was installed in 1882 under Jac Magalie in a 19 feet high bell tower. Next to the church stands a horseshoe tower that is in a questionable condition, given it has to carry the heavy weigth of the magnificent and heavy bell. The canon of the bell consists of 6 carefully carved angle heads. Below the crown is a broad decorative band filled with garlands, different types of angel heads and effigies of St John the Baptist as a child and with a lamb. Below it figures a moulding ring and a band of drops pointing downwards. On a waist of the bell one can read: Grootrivier – Komt want alle dingen zyn gereed, Matth. 22, V. 4. On the reverse side of the bell one reads a text over five lines: Gegossen von C.F. Voss & Sohn in Stettin 1881 No. 843. Above the sound bow are four moulding wires, the top two close together. On the lip one finds a decorative freeze made up of leaf like figures, pointing upwards. From the above it is clear that the bell has been made in the foundry of Carl Voss from Stettin, formerly a city in Germany but now in Poland with the name Szczecin. All together, we have found seven bells of the founder spread over the different missions of the BMS. It remains remarkable how this large bell ended up in a church that makes up more than half of the existing buildings on the location. 1 De Wet, T., Teugels, J. L. & van Deventer, P. (In preparation). Bells in the BMS Missions in the Western Cape of South Africa. 2 Jahresbericht der Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der Evangelischen Missionen unter den Heiden zu Berlin, 1839-1939, year 1881& 1882.