Why We Need a Safe Church

Last week I preached about how the hypocrisy of Christians makes many people question the claims of Jesus. The very next morning, the news hit that a retired CRC pastor in Atlanta confessed to the murder of an 8-year-old girl back in 1975. As the Banner reports:

“Rev. David G. Zandstra (now 83) was the pastor at Trinity Chapel CRC in Broomall, Pa., in 1975 when 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington was kidnapped and murdered on her way to Vacation Bible School. While Zandstra denied involvement at the time, he has now confessed to the murder.”

This came to light when a new witness came forward with a diary in which she wrote an entry one month after Harrington went missing, speculating that Zandstra may have been responsible for twice trying to kidnap another girl. She wrote, "Guess what? A man tried to kidnap Holly twice! It's a secret I can't tell anyone, but I think he might be the one who kidnapped Gretchen. I think it was Mr. Z." Other friends complained to Zandstra’s daughter about the former pastor touching them while they were sleeping, and his daughter is reported to have said, “Yes, he does that sometimes.”

This witness, 10 at the time, was best friends with one of Zandstra’s daughters. She describes being groped by the suspect during a sleepover at his home seven days before Harrington went missing. When these new details emerged, Mr. Zandstra confess. He said that he was driving on Aug. 15, 1975, when he came upon the 8-year-old walking to the Bible camp hosted by his congregation, Trinity Church Chapel Christian Reform Church. He routinely picked children up to take them to the mid-morning camp. This time, instead of taking her to VBS, he drove her to the woods and demanded she undress. When she refused, he punched her, knocking her out. She never regained consciousness. Zandstra left her body in the woods, covered her with some foliage, and proceeded to VBS.

As a father and a pastor, I am shocked by this story, but not surprised. There are many wolves in sheep’s clothing, people who use their position of authority to hurt others. While these incidents are rare, we are wise to create boundaries and practices to make sure not even a hint of abuse happens in our church and families.

We Work To Be Safe

Cascade CRC has a long-standing “Safe Church Policy.” This outlines ways we make sure we keep our congregation safe, including a “Two-Person Rule” (always having two adults, or an adult and helper, working with children), an “Open Door” policy (making sure an adult never meets along with a child behind closed doors), and others.  (To read our Safe Church policy, click here. To learn more about the tools available to congregations in the area of abuse prevention, visit Thrive’s website.) 

We have also adopted a code of conduct for all ministry leaders at all levels of the denomination. This was ratified by Cascade’s council, and our leadership signs it every year. Our leadership and I also undergo training in how to respond to reports of abuse. (To learn more about abuse response, visit Thrive’s website).

We Lament

While this is a reminder to share these systems and policies, my main emotion is one of deep lament. One definition of sin is “not the way it’s supposed to be.” This is definitely not the way life is supposed to be. This girl should have been able to go to VBS, and move on to live a flourishing life. That “pastor” should have guarded his people, protected his daughter, and made his home and church safe places. Justice shouldn’t have taken 48 years. None of this is how life should be. May God have mercy, and may our hearts break for those who have been assaulted, abused, and wounded by the church.

 Summary

If you have any questions about our church’s practices, please reach out to our Safe Church coordinators, Dave VanKooten and Be Grimberg.  If anyone has concerns about a situation of abuse is encouraged to report it to the appropriate authorities. The U.S. national sexual assault hotline is 1-800-656-4673 (U.S.).

Weeping With You;
Pastor Tim

Read the full article in the Banner here: https://www.crcna.org/news-and-events/news/response-gretchen-harrington-murder

NBC’s coverage can be found here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-pastor-arrested-1975-murder-young-girl-walking-church-rcna96065?fbclid=IwAR3olw24POjEFQ7hEoFhQzvqnnkUejEx2Z5dgarLkpMuJmZKkRTC-3BB4wM