Who we are...

Varsity Church is the young exciting student focused English speaking ministry of Universiteitsoord Dutch Reformed Church.

We believe in a that God loves everyone and has called us to appreciate and heal everybody and all of creation all of the time in all ways possible ... just like He loves and heals us. Join us on the quest of love & wholeness.

We are trusting God for a new work of his Spirit in our midst to enable us to reach out into the increasingly multi-cultural student community around us here in Hatfield by establishing a life-affirming, English-speaking student ministry. We are not quite sure what the eventual destiny of the new ministry will be, but we look forward to going on an adventurous spiritual quest with God.

The journey thus far...

In 2010 we had our first ever English-speaking first years camp after which there followed a year of welcoming, relaxed, weekly Sunday evening worship services in the HUB at Universiteitsoord student congregation.  In 2011 we repeated the camp as well as our weekly worship service.  We have just returned from our third first years camp.  The Varsity Camp was run in partnership with the Anglicans and Methodists. By the grace of God we a group of regulars is joined by new faces leading too new friendships. 

Apart from all the informal friendships that have sprung up, we have also participated in some of the activities of the Afrikaans student ministry fo Universiteitsoord.  We have also had special events/projects including an organised outing to watch the Bafana:Ghana game at Soccer City where we joined up with students from TUT from the Riviera student ministry as well as a bilingual beach mission in June to Richards Bay.

We now also have a small, but regular, weekly short midday chapel service on the UP campus in the Tuks Chapel from 12:45 to 13:10 called “Catch your Breath” offering a peaceful pause in the middle of what can otherwise be a hectic week for both students and personnel. 

Universiteitsoord ...

God has blessed us as a congregation over the last half a century with the privilege of ministering to thousands of students annually through worship services, cell groups, first years and senior camps, outreaches and a range of fun student ministries.  All of this has been done almost solely in Afrikaans, though.  As we believe that there are no boundaries to the grace of God we embarked on a journey of breaking down boundaries and purposely offering a more multi-cultural ministry to the students in our community. So if you would like to be part of history in the making, join us for an exciting, inspirational ministry to enhance your life as student.

More info ...

If you would like to know more about Varsity Church or if you would like to join the camp as a first year or as a personnel member you can contact our ministry leader Kevin 0824655922 or minister Alan Childs at 0728431555.  The weekly service is held in the ZONE at Universiteitsoord on the corner of Duxbury & Herold at 5:30pm.