Saint Andrew’s Chapel Withdraws from the PCA
One of the Presbyterian Church in America’s largest congregations voted on Sunday, December 14, to withdraw from the denomination. Saint Andrew’s Chapel, outside of Orlando, informed Central Florida Presbytery that it has voted to no longer affiliate with the PCA. The vote was 669 in favor of leaving and 108 opposed.
In June, a Central Florida Presbytery judicial commission found Burk Parsons, the current senior pastor at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, guilty on three charges and indefinitely suspended him from his role as a PCA teaching elder.
Burk Parsons Suspended from Pastoral Duties at St. Andrew’s Chapel
Dr. Burk Parsons, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries, has been indicted by a commission of the Central Florida Presbytery and is currently suspended from his duties at St. Andrew’s as he awaits the resolution of the case.
Both St. Andrew’s Chapel and Ligonier Ministries were founded by well-known Reformed theologian and teacher, Dr. R.C. Sproul. After Sproul died in 2017, Parsons became the senior pastor of St. Andrew’s. He also is the chief editorial officer for Ligonier.
Today the Judicial Commission of the Central Florida Presbytery announced that they unanimously found Teaching Elder Burk Parsons guilty on three charges:
- Being harsh, ungentle, and unkind to those under his care or with whom he interacts
- Not being a humble servant leader but instead “lording it over others” (i.e, autocratic) and being domineering, contentious, and quarrelsome/pugnacious in his leadership so that those in his care and in his “leadership orbit” were intimidated, bullied, and/or afraid
- Slandering and/or demeaning other servants and churches of our Lord
The Judicial Commission also voted unanimously to indefinitely suspend Parsons from the office of Teaching Elder.
Florida church votes to leave PCA denomination that suspended its pastor
A PCA commission found Parsons, 49, guilty in June of three counts of violating his ordination vows. The commission noted Parsons pleaded guilty to the same charges in 2019 but has shown “insufficient signs of repentance” since then.
Parsons appealed the ruling. His case was scheduled to come up in January, but the congregation decided not to wait.