NeoGen: Kerk vir 'n Nuwe Generasie

The NeoGen logo was designed by Erwin Bindeman, and depicts the differences between youth and adult, as well as the cross representing Christianity.

NeoGen: Kerk vir 'n Nuwe Generasie (Afrikaans for Church for a new generation) is a Christian youth movement functioning within the NG Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) - in particular the NG Kerk Welgelegen. The church is located in La Provence Street in Welgelegen, in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. NeoGen places great emphasis on creativity, design and originality; encouraging the youth to live out their Christianity by means of their talents.

History

The first steps toward the development of an innovative concept for the Dutch Reformed youth service started in December 2004 under leadership of youth dominee (Afrikaans for pastor) Alwyn Carstens and dominees GP Kellerman and Michiel Strauss. Bettie Strauss, daughter of Michiel Strauss and praise and worship leader from 2003 – 2005, approached Sybrand Strauss and Steyn Strauss (respectively brother and cousin of Bettie Strauss) to start a praise and worship band with the promise of playing in any style they would prefer. They were joined by Emile Kotzé (lead guitarist) and Wessel le Roux (drummer) and covered traditional Dutch Reformed hymns with a strong punk rock influence.

During 2005, Sybrand, Bettie and Steyn began talks of a purely youth-focused church, conducted in a manner different from any Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa and greatly influenced by Hillsong Church in Australia. They approached the NG Kerk Welgelegen’s Youth Commission and in the end of November 2005, the concept of NeoGen: Kerk vir ‘n Nuwe Generasie was approved by both the Youth Commission and the Church Council. Bettie resigned as praise and worship leader at the end of 2005 to do her practical year for her studies in speech therapy. Sybrand Strauss took over as praise and worship leader and Steyn Strauss as creative director of NeoGen. Ben van der Merwe also joined them nearing the end of 2005 as Head of the Youth Commission - the youngest in the history of NG Kerk Welgelegen.

Current Operations

NeoGen: Kerk vir 'n Nuwe Generasie was officially launched on 22 January 2006 at the NG Kerk Welgelegen. It is currently expanding by regularly acquiring new youth leaders and catering to the different age groups within the youth by means of Kategese (Afrikaans for the term ‘Sunday School’), Klub NeoGen, NeoGen Plus and NeoGen Old School.

SkaatsCast: The First NG Kerk Podcast

SkaatsCast (a.k.a. Die Avonture van Skaats de Wet) is the first podcast in the Dutch Reformed Church[1] and is run by five of the youth leaders of NeoGen. The first episode of SkaatsCast was published on 16 July 2006.

Legends

There are rumours that NeoGen was started in Cape Town, South Africa in the late 1970s by a Dutch Reformed Church rebel and youth pioneer, Skaats de Wet. According to legend, de Wet rebelled against the Dutch Reformed Church's involvement in Apartheid and started the Christian youth movement, NeoGenerasie (Afrikaans for Neo Generation) which later evolved into NeoGen. There is, however, no evidence to prove this and many regard this as a fabricated tale.

References

[2] NeoGen: Kerk vir 'n Nuwe Generasie Blog
[3] NeoGen: Kerk vir 'n Nuwe Generasie MySpace Profile
[4] SkaatsCast MySpace
[5] NeoGen on community Christian radio station Radio Tygerberg
[6] NeoGen on the DRC and internet in the future of the Church
[7] Video interview for 'Die Burger' with Steyn Strauss, creative director of NeoGen

See also

Dutch Reformed Church