A retired pastor associated with the Christian Reformed Church has been arrested after he confessed to murdering an 8-year-old girl in 1975.
On Monday, police arrested the Rev. David Zandstra, who formerly served as the pastor at Trinity Chapel CRC in Broomall, Pa., in 1975, the same year he kidnapped 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington on her way to Vacation Bible School and eventually murdered her.
According to a spokesperson for the CRC, Zandrsta had admitted to killing Harrington, despite denying it during the initial investigation.
“In the wake of this shocking news, the Christian Reformed Church in North America would like to extend condolences to the Harrington family. We were heartbroken to hear about Gretchen’s kidnapping and death back in 1975. We are additionally grieved now to hear that a CRC pastor was responsible for her murder,” the spokesperson said.
As reported by CBS News, Zandrsta lured Harrington into his car, where he attempted to molest her and then beat her to death. Two months later, her body was discovered in a field.
One year later, Zandstra moved from Philadelphia to Dallas, where he founded the Bethel Christian Reformed Church, which shut its doors in 1995. His successor, Pastor Dave Slings, expressed his shock at the news, noting that Zandstra was well-liked by the church community.
“We join in prayer for the Harrington family and the Broomall, Pa., community. We are grateful that local law enforcement did not stop in their pursuit of answers, and we pray that the truth for Gretchen and any other survivors of abuse or violence will continue to come to light,” the spokesperson said. “We also commit to continue striving for our congregations to be places of peace, welcome, hospitality, and safety for all who attend and visit.”
“As a denomination, we work hard to help our congregations be safe places that actively prevent abuse in all its forms. We encourage all congregations to have safe church policies and procedures in place to help prevent abuse.”
The spokesperson shared that the CRC has a code of conduct for all ministry leaders within the denomination and that all congregations are encouraged “to undergo training in how to respond to reports of abuse.”
“Despite these systems, we know – and have seen in Gretchen Harrington’s case – that sometimes our best efforts fail. For this, we lament, and we commit to continuing working for a church culture in which abuse in all its forms will not be tolerated.”
Photo courtesy: Emiliano Bar/Unsplash
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.