A group of passionate followers of Jesus who hungered after more intimate and free times in worship, and who longed for more of God’s refreshing revival in our city, began to meet in homes across Cape Town in 2010.
The group began to grow and it became clear that there was a hungering after the presence of God and true spiritual community. It didn’t take too long to realise that God was organically planting a new church in our midst.
The name Encounter was selected as it represented the primary focus of the church – inviting people of varied backgrounds to experience the presence and power of the living God and His Son, Jesus.
While much has changed over the years, this ‘presence-focus’ has remained. The foundations of hospitality and relationship have also continued as hallmarks of the church to this day. We are also aware that this is still just the beginning… so we welcome you to partner with us and join us in these adventures with God!
We pray for and desire to see our city reflecting the goodness of God in all areas of society. As a church, we are inspired to see people spiritually restored, equipped, and empowered to transform their own community to reflect the goodness of God.
We do this through REST– which is an acronym that also reminds us that we partner with God in this calling.
The chart below gives a bit more detail about how we aim to do this:
Biblical teaching;
Creating opportunities for salvation, baptism in water and of the Holy Spirit;
Restoring identity in God;
Connecting with spiritual family;
Receiving spiritual, physical and emotional healing; Releasing destiny.
Training and discipling in doctrine and life;
Releasing prophetic words; Discovering spiritual gifting; Developing a worshiping and praying community; Cultivating Kingdom culture & values; Raising future leaders.
Impacting communities, workplaces and spheres of influence;
Activating spiritual gifting; Supporting and going on missions.
Partnering with others (churches/ministries) for community transformation;
Ministering in teams
(multi-generational and diverse).
Over the years, God has given us key values that determine
how we do community and ministry.
These values also represent what we could like
people to 'encounter' when they visit or join our community
We invite you to join us and...
Experience the
powerful and transforming presence of our good God
Connect with God and our community as you discover your God-given identity
Engage with our community
and others as you develop your spiritual gifting
Come Alive as you discover fresh purpose and
calling in God
Encounter church is led by Brendon Knott, Colin Walker and Peter Sweatman.
Brendon is a founding leader of Encounter Church.
Primarily, he is a passionate Jesus-worshipper. He has had a love for the local church since his teenage years and desires to see whole nations transformed through encounters with our good God.
Brendon received Jesus as his Lord when he was a young child and experienced the presence and power of God in supernatural ways throughout his childhood. Living in Israel as a child influenced Brendon’s heart for that nation as well as his understanding of the roots of our Christian faith. This instilled faith in him to see all nations come to faith in Jesus.
Beyond the local church, Brendon loves encouraging business leaders to partner with God through their work and enjoys growing relationships with like-minded church leaders across Cape Town and South Africa.
Besides church ministry, Brendon works as an Associate Professor at a local university where he lectures and conducts research in his specialised field of Sports Marketing. He travels internationally regularly to teach, conduct research and present his knowledge. His love for sport and his chosen study field has led him to attend multiple Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups, among other iconic sport events.
Prayer and worship are the lifeblood of our church.
Check our Facebook page for prayer meetings during the week. On Sunday mornings we pray before the main meeting from 9:45am.
We are “an army of worshippers” and love to worship God together.
We encourage freedom in worship and an expression of the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work during our worship. We have different musicians and worship leaders, each of whom may have a unique style of worship.
We also value and encourage a prophetic culture in our church community. We encourage this gifting to operate in other contexts besides Sunday services, sometimes even in businesses, hospitals, among the homeless and on the streets.
We believe that all generations participate in healthy spiritual community.
On Sunday mornings we have a Kids programme for children aged 4-12 years old, designed to introduce our young people to the core values and culture of the Kingdom of God.
We encourage them in their relationship with Jesus in ways appropriate for their age.
We also encourage participation of children during our Sunday meetings, believing that there is no “Junior Holy Spirit”.
Social projects include overseeing the drilling of boreholdes to provide clean drinking water in rural villages, installing drip irrigation systems and planting vegetable gardens to increase local food security. This has strengthened the resilience of households and livelihoods, and decreased the need for humanitarial food hand-outs.
Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) (https://cbnafrica.org) in Lakeside, Cape Town, has wonderfully partnered with this initiative by funding the drilling and installation of some of the boreholes in Uganda.
We give regularly to these projects. If you would like to support them, you can contribute financially directly into our Missions Account.
We have a growing ministry to serve and pastor business people across our city. Encounter Church is linked with the ‘Heaven in Business’ ministry at Bethel Church, Redding, California. For details of conferences, workshops or events see www.heaveninbusiness.com/events
Check our Youtube channel for the conference recordings and look out for updates on the next event or conference at www.heaven-in-business.capetown.
If you would like to join this growing network of Christian business people across Southern Africa, you can request to join the FaceBook group ‘Heaven in Business Southern Africa’. We also have teams available to pray for and minister prophetically to business people, so contact us to receive prayer.
We have a passion for reaching communities around our city, nation and other nations. Teams from our church have travelled together to minister at churches in the Eastern Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal, the Free State, southern Garden Route in South Africa, as well as Zimbabwe.
We are also partnering with a growing network of churches among a formerly unreached people group in northern Uganda called the Karamajong. Bi-annual mission trips focus on training and raising up indigenous local leadership and supporting church planting in rural villages, as well as drilling boreholes to provide clean drinking water and planting vegetable gardens to increase local food security.
Through this ministry, reighbouring tribles have also been impacted including the Acholi an nothern Uganda, and people in south Sudan and NW Kenya
We give regularly to these projects. If you would like to support them, or help enable the next mission trip, you can contribute financially directly into our Missions Account
We actively seek to build relationships with other churches and leaders who we feel share a similar vision and purpose.Here are links to some of our closest connections:
We have a variety of events that happen outside of Sundays, including midweek meetings for prayer, bible study, mission support, ministry training, worship or socialising together. Check our Facebook page or monthly newsletter for event updates or invites.
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Details to follow upon registration
UCT Graduate School of Business
Cape Town
Listen to or watch our recent Sunday messages by clicking on the links below.
We appreciate and value your support through your prayer,
friendship and financial generosity!
We take every effort to diligently steward what God gives and seek to be
generous with all we have.
The church accounts are audited by professional financial accountants
(Next Level Business Solutions, in Cape Town) to aid us in this task.
We are also a registered not-for-profit organisation (NPO 180-380) in South Africa.
If you would like to bless us with your tithe or donation, please make a
deposit into the accounts listed below
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Details to follow upon registration
UCT Graduate School of Business
Cape Town
Schoenstatt Conference Centre
3 Schoenstatt Avenue
(off Constantia Main Rd)
Constantia
Cape Town
84 Ranelagh Road
Claremont 7708
Cape Town
South Africa
info@encounterchurch.capetown
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