Church Directory

What this IS

  • A work-in-progress Cape Town area directory of Christian churches with teaching that is broadly 'mainstream' and considered to be historically 'orthodox' in the protestant Christian faith.

What this ISN'T

  • a listing of every church in Cape Town claiming to be Christian
  • a comprehensive guide to every available place of worship in Cape Town

Origin South Africa IS

  • independent of control by any one local church or denomination
  • non-denominational and evangelical
  • overseen by selected church leaders from several mainstream Christian denominations

Frequently Asked Questions

Help! My church isn't here!
First make SURE your church isn't listed. For example, try searching on part of the name, search by suburb and by neighbouring suburb or by denomination. Once you are satisfied that it is not there, get in touch, giving as much detail as possible.

How do you collate your info?
The initial addition is all done manually – we telephone or write to every single church on the list to verify the information we hold on them.

How do I update my details?
You should have received a letter in the post with your username and password. If you did not receive this, you can retrieve it so long as the email address listed on your church's page is valid (If it is NOT valid, you'll need to email us and we'll call you to make the necessary changes). To retrieve your lost username or password do the following:

  1. Click the 'login' button (leaving the username/password fields blank)
  2. Click 'forgotten your username' link
  3. Enter the Email address that is listed on your church's page and the spam avoidance code
  4. We will automatically email you your new username and password. When you get this, log in and go to your church's page and it should be obvious from there what you do.

What are your criteria for inclusion?
We do not list churches considered by mainstream Christianity to be cults, sects or in any way otherwise deviating from broadly orthodox Christian tradition (see www.cultwatch.com for more information). Origin South Africa management reserves the right to make a judgement on inclusion, and while appeals will be considered, the final decision rests with us. Also, the selection is geographically based, with the areas covered under constant review. Having said that… a church in our selected geographical areas will automatically be included unless we have reason to believe that it is not considered orthodox in an historical context. Most churches are listed. For example, all Anglican, CESA, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Dutch Reformed, Presbyterian, AOG, Nazarene, Salvation Army (etc!) churches are automatically approved as those denominations have statements of faith that fall into that category. We recognise that some individual local churches within those denominations may have a variety of beliefs expressed within the diverse tapestry of orthodox Christian tradition, and so we do urge the user to ask pointed questions when visiting a church.

What should I ask?
Here's a few to get you started: Do you believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man? Do you believe the Bible to be the Word of God? Do you believe in God the Father and the third Person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit? To whom are your church leaders accountable? Are your financial affairs made public? Do you believe that people from other churches unrelated to yours can be considered to be your spiritual equals?

Help! I think my church might be a sect or a cult!
Steady. It's unlikely, but you never know! Why not check out the Cult Watch website? They have loads of information and even a "Super Apostle Detector" which is fun to do, and might help you evaluate your position.

I found a mistake, what do I do?
Please let us know. Also realise that we will have to verify the correction with the church in question. All the information provided is gathered from the churches directly, or from their denominational offices.

Help! I spotted a church on your listing which I know for a fact consists of a group of raving heretics that believe that a spaceship is coming to take them away in the year 2015 and they're building a giant oven to help cook the souls of the condemned…
Ok, let us know. However, please be prepared to back up your claim with hard facts. A photo of the oven would be good. But seriously, do get in touch if you have genuine concerns.

Do you share your information with anyone?
Well, yes. You're accessing it over the internet, so pretty much everyone really. Our database contains only information provided by churches or denominational offices for our publication and as such can be considered in the public domain. However, we do not share your personally identifiable data (your email address, contact details) on our mailing lists with anyone else.

Can you recommend a good church?
Well, yes and no. Every denomination has some good and some poor churches. No one denomination or church is the sole repository of divine truth (if they say they are, our advice is - leave, quickly!). We're providing this list, and it's divided as you can see from the listings into theological traditions and styles of worship to help you with your decision. Generally, churches can be divided as follows (please note this is a generalization, and there are always exceptions, and some churches would not fit into any one category below). Note that certainly in categories one to five, the similarities in beliefs and practice are much greater than the differences, and there is fluidity around their borders.

  1. Evangelical – generally believe the Bible to be the infallible 'Word of God'. Evangelical is a broad term which can encompass theological traditions from Charismatic to Pentecostal to Conservative. We generally use it to mean conservative, where 'sign gifts' such as 'speaking in tongues', 'divine healing', etc are not the norm in church services, and members are rarely spoken of as possessing those 'gifts'. There can be a tendency towards greater emphasis being placed on rational thought than on spiritual experience. Churches tend to be strongly evangelistic and usually place an emphasis on exegetical teaching. An example of a largely evangelical denomination (as used here) would be the Church of England in South Africa.
  2. Charismatic – generally encompassing from 'conservative' (some manifestation of 'speaking in tongues' and/or 'words of prophecy') through to 'extreme' (these can involve so-called 'Toronto' experiences). Generally believe the Bible to be the infallible 'Word of God'. There can in some churches be a tendency towards greater emphasis being placed on experience than rationality. Often these churches tend to have leaders that provide a strong focus to the ministry. There can be a greater informality about services in some churches. Churches tend to be strongly evangelistic and can place an emphasis on contemporary worship and exegetical teaching. There is usually a strong emphasis on 'body ministry'. Charismatic churches exist in most denominations including Baptist, Anglican, etc, but examples of denominations which would be largely charismatic in theology would be newfrontiers or Vineyard.
  3. Pentecostal – generally accept that 'speaking in tongues' provides evidence of conversion (although this varies from church to church). Generally believe the Bible to be the infallible 'Word of God'. Churches tend to be strongly evangelistic and can place an emphasis on contemporary worship and exegetical teaching. Often these churches tend to have leaders that provide a strong focus to the ministry. An example of a largely Pentecostal denomination would be the Assemblies of God.
  4. Conservative – this is our general term for 'traditional orthodox'. Churches tend to be rather less evangelical or evangelistic, less emphasis on the Bible as the 'Word of God' and greater emphasis on interpretation of scripture and social justice. Conservative (as used here) churches are found in most denominations.
  5. Reformed – this tradition arises from the Reformation in Europe in the 16th century and churches with reformed theology (really a conservative sub-set of Evangelical) tend to have a very conservative and traditional style of service, along with a very high view of Scripture as the 'word of God'. An example of a denomination which has a large number of reformed churches would be the Dutch Reformed Church. There is also an emerging group of Charismatic Reformed churches, where acceptance of 'sign gifts' alongside the very high view of Scripture and traditional teaching is the norm.
  6. Liberal – generally do not accept that the Bible is the 'Word of God' but that it contains some 'words from God', and that traditionally-considered authors (Moses, Isaiah, John, etc) are probably either constructs or minor figures. Jesus may or may not be considered the 'Son of God' depending on the church, and there is a general tendency towards looking at Scripture not so much as 'inspired' as 'a good guide'. Some teachings are specifically viewed as outdated and needing replaced. The opposite of evangelical, and tend not to be evangelistic. Generally more open to inter-faith dialogue. Liberal churches can be found in different denominations.

What do you believe?
Origin South Africa is non-denominational, and has no theological tradition as such; however for your information, our basis of faith is provided here.