By Tabisa Mntengwana
July 03, 2009

EARLY settlers in the area now known as Buffalo City established various Christian church congregations, some of which still stand today.

Churches that sent missionaries to Africa who established congregations in Eastern Cape include Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic and Presbyterian. Along with Christianity, these missionaries brought education. They started the first schools in King William’s Town and East London.

One of the oldest churches in East London, the first congregation gathered at St Peter’s Anglican Church in 1857. The first settlement, in the Westbank, was an imported, pre-fabricated structure made of wood and iron.

The building was re-built in 1861 using brick and the first service was held in it in November 1862. The west wall was re-built in 1882 and the sanctuary was added.

Memorial plaques have been installed in the building’s interior, with an oak rood screen erected in memory of Mrs Muun, the wife of the former port captain.

The house opposite the church was built in the late 1860s, while the church grounds exude pride with its Norfolk pine in the garden.

St Peter’s Anglican Church is in High Street in Westbank.

Over on the corner of Oxford and Church streets is the neo-Gothic St John’s Anglican Church. The building’s foundation stone was laid in June 1878 by Dr CJ Engen and its first service was held in November 1880.

The church was consecrated in 1881 by Bishop Merriman.

When the church was built, it served the residents in the surrounding community, but with the growth and industrialization of the town, the residential area has moved away and the church’s congregation has shrunk.

St George’s was the first Presbyterian church in the city. The congregation met in 1874 and the foundation stone was laid in January 1900. A silver trowel was presented to Mrs James Georgeson, which is now kept in the East London Museum.

The original design of the building incorporated a dome, but there were no builders in East London at the time able to erect one, so the idea of the dome was abandoned and a pitched roof was built instead.

Its entrance has an impressive pediment and Doric columns. The church doors were opened in 1902. St George’s is between Oxford Street and Park Avenue.

The Trinity Methodist Church was the first Wesleyan Methodist congregation in the Westbank, but it moved to the north of the town centre and the foundation stone was laid in September 1903 by Reverend N Abraham.

The church is built of brick and plaster and is in an early English Gothic style.

It was designed by WB Longford and the first service was held in September 1904. It has an imposing spire. Trinity Methodist is in Oxford Street.

The original St Andrew’s Church was built by the German immigrants who had received land in the area surrounding East London. Fundraising for the church began in 1879 and the foundation stone was laid in 1880, with the new building dedicated in 1882.

This Gothic style church with its imposing spire also has 17 beautiful stained glass windows donated by the St Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Hanover, in Germany. St Andrew’s is at 50 Park Avenue.

A Catholic church, the foundation stone was laid in December 1893. Efforts to build the church began in 1892 and the completed church was consecrated in June 1894.

The building, at 44 Albany Street, has a simple form of spire which is a roof vent and has a lancet and rose windows. Two of the stained glass windows are memorials to John Gately.

The first Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk congregations were held in Komga and Macleantown and in 1897 a small congregation in East London built a small hall in St Paul’s Road.

Because of the population growth in East London - and resulting increase in the congregation - funds were raised and ground was bought in 1915 to build a church.

The foundation stone was laid in 1921 and the first service was held in April 1922.

The East London Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk building has an articulated gabled roof with domed cylinders between three sections. It is between Brill and Paterson streets.