Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK)

Dutch Reformed Church in Africa
Classification	Protestant
Theology	Reformed
Polity	Presbyterian
Congregations	c. 300
Members	130,000

The Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (Dutch: Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika, abbreviated NHK) is a Reformed Christian denomination based in South Africa. It also has congregations in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Along with the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) and the Reformed Churches in South Africa, the NHK is one of the three Dutch Reformed sister churches of South Africa.

Unlike the NGK, which uses the simplified spelling Nederduits used in both Afrikaans and Dutch, the NHK retains the old spelling Nederduitsch, the word originally referring to the Dutch language.

The Dutch Reformed Church was introduced to South Africa by the Dutch East India Company's settlement at Cape Town in 1652. The first formal congregation was established in 1665 under the jurisdiction of the classis (presbytery) of Amsterdam. Despite the permanent British takeover of the Cape Colony in 1806, the church remained semi-established with congregations supported from government funds.

In 1824 an autonomous synod was established at the Cape, removing the church from control from the Netherlands. This autonomous synod would become the NGK. The unwillingness of Dutch ministers to serve in a British-controlled colony meant that Scottish Presbyterian ministers with British sympathies were introduced to the church.

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