Johannes Overney who came from Cape Town to hold the first service "in one of the best situated and ablest Vrijmans Woningen" on Sunday 13 October 1686, on which occasion he preached on Isaiah 52:7: "Hoe lievelijk zijn op de bergen the feet of those who bring good tidings of peace; those who bring good tidings of good; those who say to Zion: Your God is King.

As a consultant, he visited the congregation every three months and in the meantime the services were observed by the sick roster Mankadan.

Thanks to the lovely cooperation of the congregation and great help provided by Governor Simon van der Stel, by whom the town was laid out and after whom it was also named, this little church could already be opened on 19 October 1687 was inaugurated by Rev.

[2] This faithful minister began with missions and education among the slaves and subjects, but he was not destined to attend the church's dedication, as he died on May 5 of that year, a victim of the fever (probably meaning malaria).

Petrus Kalden from Cape Town reports to the Klassis van Amsterdam: "The congregation in Stellenbosch grows daily and now has over 50 members, to whom I go four times a year to administer the sacraments there, which during my absence by a sickness grid is observed so that this place becomes very significant over time, including all the years in suffering, to which the All-sufficient God wants to grant his grace and radiate us with his grace and favorable presence.