Bell rings out at mission church

THE history of the century-old mission church on Bushy Vales Road near Southbroom has been the subject of several Herald articles but, just to refresh memories, it was established in 1907 on five hectares of land given to the Swedish Holiness Mission Society by Alfred Eyles, Southbroom’s first pioneer.

As well as a church, the mission was home to a school, clinic, private cemetery, outhouses and the official residence of the serving missionary and his family.

For 60 years, missionaries came and went, until 1972, when the school closed and the church the following year. Eric Peckham, whose banana plantations border the mission, purchased the property in 1981 and, along with maintaining the five-hectare parkland, assumed the duties of registrar of the cemetery.

The year 2012 saw the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the mission following Allen and Racquel Peckham’s invitation to the congregation of the Trafalgar Presbyterian Church to make a new home at Imbizane Mission.

They came with a pulpit, font and what Pastor David Thorburn-Humphrey calls their ‘infamous’ white plastic chairs to start a new beginning.

In the four short years the congregation has grown from a mere 25 worshippers to close to 100. The plastic chairs have been replaced by wooden pews crafted by Africarve in Banners Rest and fitted with attractive cushions thanks to new member, Esme Derksen.

All paid for from money raised at a successful fund-raising golf day at Southbroom earlier this year.

The new pews have made a significant difference to the church’s interior but outside, at the entrance, it’s the new belfry that swells the hearts of the congregation.

Pastor Thorburn-Humphrey said that, after what he calls a ‘bell hunt’ which started off in a foundry in Potchefstroom, the search ended much closer to home in nearby Uvongo after a congregant spotted a solid brass bell in what was then trading as a pawnshop. The good pastor set off only to find the pawnshop had closed its doors but, after further enquiries, he found that the owner had rehoused some of the stock including the brass bell in an adjoining business specialising in reptiles!

The happy ending is that the church found its bell and, while the pastor went to great lengths to describe the difference between a ship’s bell and a church bell, in his opinion, it is a combination of both.

It is believed the bell is from Australia, but exactly where and for what purpose it originally served remains a mystery. Do we have a local campanologist, bell forger or expert on bells on the South Coast?

PLEASE step forward and help make an accurate identification! Weighing around 40kgs it required the strength of three men to lift the solid brass bell into position and haul it up to the belfry constructed by church member, Arthur Lindeque, using reinforced concrete.

And now, every Sunday, before morning service, the elder on duty has the privilege of ringing the bell, precisely seven times, as this is the perfect biblical number.

This is not the first bell to ring out at Imbizane Mission.

Cedric Nhlumayo was a pupil at the mission school up until it closed in 1972. He could even remember the head teacher’s name was Miss Khwela. Cedric had no problem in remembering that in those days, the mission belfry stood slightly to the rear of the church and, not only was the bell rung on Sundays for church, but every morning at 8am to announce the start of a new school day.

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