Gerald "Jerry" Zandstra, is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church, and currently serves in Wayland CRC and former Republican primary candidate for US Senate.

Politics

Zandstra has been a long-standing supporter of the Republican Party. From 2000 to 2005, he held a position of Director of Programs with The Acton Institute, a conservative think-tank based in Grand Rapids, MI. In May 2005, Zandstra announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for US Senate. Zandstra faced Keith Butler and Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, who went on to win the Republican primary in 2006. Following his unsuccessful US Senate campaign, Zandstra returned to work at the Acton Institute.

Legal Issues

In 2014, Zandstra led The Pyramid Campus Group who sought to purchase a pyramid-shaped building owned by Michigan-based Steelcase. It was announced on May 9, 2015, that the agreement fell through. Steelcase sold the Pyramid building to a Norman Development LLC who intended to lease the building to Switch. When Switch announced "plans to convert the pyramid and its surrounding property into the nation's largest data center east of the Mississippi River," Zandstra's group filed a lawsuit in Kent County Circuit Court.

Christian Reformed Minister

Zandstra was ordained as an ordained minister of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church on October 6, 1991 at Midland Park, NJ. He served the following CR churches: Midland Park, NJ, 1991–93; Seymour, Grand Rapids, MI, 1993–2000; Hillside, Cutlerville, MI, 2001-06 (Leave, 2005–06); Interim, Wayland, MI, 2006–13; Wayland, MI, 2013

Education Interest

Zandstra holds a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

, two

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

s from

Calvin Theological Seminary Calvin Theological Seminary is a private Christian Reformed Church seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is closely tied to Calvin University, though each institution has its own board. History The seminary was founded in 1876 with the purpose ...

, a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

from

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is the divinity school of Trinity International University, an evangelical Christian university headquartered in Bannockburn, Illinois. The divinity school was founded in 1897. In April 2025, Trinit ...

, and a second

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

School of Public Affairs. He has taught in the MBA program at

Cornerstone University Cornerstone University is a private evangelical Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Cornerstone University has undergraduate and graduate programs, two seminaries ( Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and Asia Biblical T ...

. Zandstra was also an advisor to the Kenyan Constitutional Committee. Zandstra has been involved with forming

Charter Schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

and has been part of the creating of charter schools in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Acting

Zandstra played the character Reverend Jerry Wells in '' The Genesis Code'', produced by American Epic Entertainment, of which, he has been the president.

Personal life

Zandstra grew up in Highland,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and is also married and has three sons

References

External links

The Inno-Versity GroupThe Genesis Code Movie
Western Michigan University alumni Living people Michigan Republicans American people of Dutch descent Year of birth missing (living people) Calvin University alumni Trinity Evangelical Divinity School alumni Cornerstone University faculty {{US-Christian-clergy-stub