Tom A. Viezee is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 Christian minister and former politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.

Biography

As a member of the Reformatory Political Federation

Reformatory Political Federation

The Reformatory Political Federation was a minor Protestant Christian political party in the Netherlands.-History:The RPF was founded in 1975 by three groups of orthodox Christians...

 (Reformatorische Politieke Federatie) Viezee was a councillor

Councillor

A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...

 of Alphen aan den Rijn

Alphen aan den Rijn

Alphen aan den Rijn is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, between Leiden and Utrecht. The town is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn , where the river Gouwe branches off. The municipality had a population of 72,674 in 2010, and covers an...

 from 1990 to 1999. From 1993 to 1994 he also was an alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 and from 1994 to 1999 also RPF fraction leader

Parliamentary group leader

The leader or chairman of a parliamentary group holds an influential political post in a parliamentary system with strong party discipline...

.

On behalf of the RPF and later on for its successor the ChristianUnion

ChristianUnion

The ChristianUnion , abbreviated to CU, is a Dutch Christian democratic political party. A centrist party, the CU's policies combine social conservatism and soft euroscepticism with more centre-left positions on economic, immigration, and environmental issues.Founded in 2000 as a merger of the...

 (ChristenUnie) he became mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Zeewolde

Zeewolde

Zeewolde is a municipality and a town in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. It has a population of approximately 20,000. It is situated in the polder of Flevoland with the small lake called the Wolderwijd to the east. To the south is a large deciduous forest called the Horsterwold...

 on March 1, 1999. He stayed mayor till October 1, 2004 when he stepped down and became pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

 in the Netherlands Reformed Churches

Netherlands Reformed Churches

The Netherlands Reformed Churches are a conservative Reformed Protestant Christian denomination in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The denomination came into existence in 1967 out of a schism within the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands ....

 (Nederlandse Gereformeerde Kerken) in Krommenie on February 20, 2005. He was able to do so because he had been studying theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at VU University Amsterdam in the early 90s.

Personal life

Tom Viezee is married and has three children. Although a member of the Netherlands Reformed Churches he originates from the Dutch Reformed Church

Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...

(Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk).