In 2000 the safe was stolen with the history of the church which has gone forever.
Acknowledgement must go to Jeanette Westman for compiling the 2 files with the History of the Methodist Church.

The church in Strydom street was built without  T section in 1895. In 1997 the English Community of Heidelberg donated 2 glass stained windows. One to the Anglican Church and one to the Methodist Church. The glass stained window in the Methodist Church was on the Ueckermann Street side and moved to where it now is. It still carries the scares of the stones thrown at it during the Anglo-Boer War. The church boasted of a fine set of organ pipes and a 17 people in the choir. One can see the organ pipes to the one side, in the one picture with the Harvest Festival displays.

After the War in 1902, there was an influx of people coming to work on the 14 mines that surrounded Heidelberg. At that time the Presbyterians did not have a church and also attended the Methodist Church. As they needed more space, the elders decided to build on the T section of the Church. They had to purchase the land next door from Mr Walter Harvey the local chemist for £400. Eventually the economy of Heidelberg declined and people moved away. The Presbyterians moved to their newly built church in 1905. The elders then decided to partition off the church and created a hall behind.     
Cherry Ross still remembers this partition. As the church grew the partition was removed.

Harry Weakly (1863-1943)
In 1943 Harry Weakley died. He was a lay preacher and Sunday School Superintendant for the church for 49 years. He would travel first on a bicycle and then later by Horse and Trap. He was the owner of the Heidelberg Times and stayed at Kinton Villa on Fenter Street. (See Blue Plaque No22. 1st October 2021) He was a talented artist. Here are some of his pictures that he painted and drew.

The List of Ministers:-
Rev. W.B. Milward. 1890-1893.
Rev. J.F. Rumfitt. 1893.
Rev. C.F. Woofenden. 1894-1896.
Rev. R. Appleby. 1897-1899.
Rev. E.H. Morgan. 1899-1902.
Rev. W.C. Burgess (War Chaplain) 1901.
Rev. E. Titcomb. 1902-1904.
Rev. Edward Dunstan – 1904-1909
Rev. P. Spencer. 1909-1913.
Rev. G.H. Eva. 1913-1917.
Rev. R.J. Good. 1917-1923.
Rev. A. Cowgill. 1923-1924.
Rev. C.D. Choate. 1925-1926.
Rev. G. Moseley. 1926.
Rev. M.M. Cobban. 1926-1931
Rev. J.A. Gurney. 1932-1933.
Rev. R.I. Thompson. 1933-1934.
Known as Ronnie and was not married. Note the sports jacket with piping and the white trousers with turnips, so popular in those days.
Rev. R.J. Moore. 1934-1939.
This picture is taken in 1941, when he was on officers course at the then Robert’s Heights. Now Voortrekkerhoogte.
Picture of his family taken in 1942 which served as a post card.
Picture of manse. Note windows.
Picture of Rev Moore, Rev Ray and elders. Picture was found in the vestry. The Cory’s used to stay in the house next to the manse. They had their own gate to come to church.
Rev. T. Crabtree. 1935.
Rev. L.J. Ray. 1939.
Rev. E.H. Proctor. 1940-1942.
Rev. A. Matthews. 1943.
Rev. J. Jackson-Smith. 1944-1953.
Rev J Gibson. 1954-1958.
Rev Gibson quite, reserved and well respected. Rev Gibson had very poor eyesight and went blind in later years. He was very involved with the Association for the Blind and had his own guide dog. 
Rev. P. Woolston. 1959.
Rev. J.M Carruth. 1960-1966.
He came to South Africa as a Salvation Army Chaplain. He never married and lived in Wesley House. He would visit the Church members on their farms. He had a car, but could not drive. He had a driver who took him on these trips. On the 5th of November 1968, the two front doors were installed in memory of him. The were donated by his sister.
Rev. B. Bird. 1967-1970. 
Rev. I. Lindsay. 1971-1972.
Rev. Gavin Taylor. 1973-1976.

He and his wife found the first year testing as he was a probationer. Their first child Mathew was only 18 months old. When they had moved into the manse, their son went to the garage and drank turpentine. He was rushed to the hospital and had his stomach pumped and placed in an oxygen tent for a few days. He was also a part time Chaplain for the Heidelberg Army Gymnasium. Their two daughters were born while he was serving the church.
Rev. M. Black. 1977-1980.
Rev. Ross A.J. Olivier. 1981-1988. Rev Olivier was the last minister to live in Wesley House. The family never had a private life, being so close to the church. Alternative accommodation was found for them.
One Sunday during a service, a drunken man interrupted the service. Rev Olivier gently spoke to him, calmed him down and continued with the service. Under Rev Olivier’s care the man rehabilitated himself. He was a single English immigrant with no relatives in South Africa who worked in one of the mines. When he died he bequeathed his car and estate to the Heidelberg Methodist Church. With this money the church could afford to buy the present manse in Mona Drive. 
Rev. A. O’B. Sutton. 1988-1994. First to move into the Manse in Mona drive
Rev. D. Slabber. 1994-1996. Rev Dawn Slabber was the first female minister to be appointed to Heidelberg. 
Rev. Aubrey Clark. 1997-1999. Rev Clark came from Beaufort West.
Rev. Don Williams. 1999-2001.
After his arrival the church had three burglaries. The most damaging loss was the safe that held the baptismal and funeral register, the original title deeds and the church history. A slide projector that was in the safe was found in the rubbish bin of the Spur Restaurant that used to be upstairs on the corner of Voortrekker and Jacob Street.
Don searched every alley and pathway. He even put on his water leggings and gumboots and walked the river and its banks. All to no avail. The safe contained no money. An alarm system was installed and Ernest Boy arranged for the bar on the inside of the front door and security gates on all the other doors.  
Rev. Diane Moodie. 2001 – 2005.
Her husband Brian was the minister of the Duduza Methodist Church. While her father, a South African Methodist Minister was studying abroad, she was born in Texas. When she was 2 her family returned to South Africa, but because the 1970’s was a difficult time they decided to immigrate back to the USA. She obtained a masters in Divinity and visited South Africa in 1999. She felt a connection to the country and stayed. She met her husband in Soweto. She was ordained in October of 2002.
On occasions she would play her flute in church. She also learned to play the guitar while in Heidelberg.
Rev. Ray Goddess. 2006–2017. 
Ray was born in Vereeniging in 1952. After being married by the minister of the Benoni Central Methodist Church they became involved in that church’s different ministries. 
Ray and Elize both received a calling from God. They started a three-year Theological diploma and completed the course in two years. Ray and Elize then again received a calling to move into full time ministry and started their training in 2005 in Uitenhage. 
The Bishop of the Highveld and Swaziland district contacted them during their first year and asked if they would be prepared to minister in Nigel and Heidelberg. They started in December 2005 and completed their Probation for the next 5 years. They finally got ordained in 2009. They were the first married couple in the Methodist Church of southern Africa to start ministry and get ordained together in the same year.
Ray had initiated many projects
a) Converting Wesley House into Wesley Hall. The opening was done by Bishop Brian Jennings.
b) Distributing food hampers in Ext 23 during a Christmas.
c) Together with the other churches in Heidelberg, inviting Angus Buchan to host a “Mighty Family” event.
d) Moving the office from the front of Wesley house to the Sunday School room that was previously the garage.  
e) Repainting the Church with a new colour scheme.
f) Building a new front and side palisade wall.
g) Installing the Baptismal Bath and new stage.
h) There was even a camel that visited the Church.
After Ray retired Elize became the minister of the Heidelberg Methodist Church.

Rev. Elize Goddess 2018-2020.
Now with Rev Michael Labaschagne as the church’s minister in 2021, a new chapter still needs to be written.