OUR HISTORY
St Luke’s Church was established in 1897. At the time, Diep River was a farming area, with a river running into a large vlei surrounded by green fields where sheep and cattle grazed. It was concern for the people of this community that prompted St John's Parish in 1893 to set up a small mission church. The plans for a church and school were drawn up by a young Herbert Baker, whose subsequent work included several other churches and the Union Buildings in Pretoria! And so the Church of St Luke the Beloved Physician celebrated its first St Luke's Day in October 1897.
St Luke’s became a flourishing community church, with choir, Sunday School, Women’s Guild, Men’s Society, Church Lads and Girls Brigade, and outreach to the local community. The concerts and annual bazaars were legend. The school served the primary education needs of the community’s children, maintaining an excellent academic and sporting record.
In the late 1960s disaster struck as Diep River was declared a white residential area, forcing the majority of St Luke’s members to be removed to far-flung areas designated for “non-white” people. The school was closed, community activities ceased, and “all that we treasured lay in ruins”. The devastation and heartache saw several elderly congregants simply giving up and dying. But the congregation soon rallied and people commuted to church from all the places they’d been sent, once again re-establishing community. A proud moment was the establishment of the non-racial St Luke’s Playgroup in *1982 (check date), in the buildings that once housed the Primary School, in flagrant disregard of Apartheid regulations. Despite threats from the authorities, the school stood firm and still exists today as St Luke’s Educare. The repeal of the Group Areas Act in 1999 saw several families returning to the area.
Today Diep River is a thriving business community, with new apartment blocks filling the area where the lake once flooded the fields. St Luke’s remains faithful to the Lord, and many of the original families are still represented in the now more diverse congregation.
