Saint Andrew’s Chapel, a prominent Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) congregation in Sanford, Florida, overwhelmingly voted to leave the denomination just two years after joining it, with the final tally 669–108.
One of the largest PCA churches in the country, with more than 1,100 members, Saint Andrew’s was formerly led by the late R.C. Sproul.
The decision to disaffiliate comes months after senior pastor Burk Parsons was suspended indefinitely from the pulpit after being found ‘guilty ‘of unbecoming pastoral conduct by the PCA’s Central Florida Presbytery. Parsons previously plead guilty to similar charges in 2019 and received admonition at that time.
Many members have criticized the disciplinary actions against their pastor, however, describing the charges as spurious and unfounded.
It was originally thought the church would wait for Parsons’ appeal of his suspension before acting, but they ultimately proceeded with the vote this past Sunday, with 86% deciding to depart.
In addition to the charges against Parsons, the church faced criticism from the presbytery over a lack of financial transparency with members. The church reportedly refused multiple requests from members to provide them with financial statements detailing expenses and the salaries of the Teaching Elders and staff.
Getting nowhere with the church, member Doug Risavy filed a complaint with the Central Florida Presbytery. The presbytery formed a commission and, after investigating, agreed with the requesting members that Saint Andrew’s needed to provide the budget information requested. The commission pointed out that the church’s own bylaws pledged to provide this information to members when asked, and then proceeded to educate the newly inducted church that financial transparency was central to Presbyterian governance.
Despite the rebuke and instruction, Saint Andrew’s declined to comply or participate further.
By voting to leave the denomination, the church has ended any disciplinary action from the presbytery against Parsons, allowing him to resume preaching and his leadership duties. They’ve also removed the demand that they comply with the presbytery’s decision over their lack financial transparency.
Now independent of the PCA, the church has not yet finalized whether it will remain unaffiliated or join another conservative Presbyterian denomination. They’ve sent letters to members outlining possible next steps under consideration.
