It now appears that the issues of church discipline, excommunication, and conflict at St. Andrew’s Chapel, Reformation Bible College, and Ligonier Ministries have less to do with theological concerns and more to do with personal conflict over the serious issue of sexual abuse.
In response to swirling questions, speculation, and conversation sparked by St. Andrew’s Chapel’s announcement of the excommunication of Stephen and Heidi Nichols, affected parties released adversarial statements about what led to the present state of affairs. Most recently, Stephen Nichols released a public statement on X outlining his account of the dispute.
Nichols wrote that in 2024, a counselor for his daughter reported a suspicion of sexual abuse involving former Saint Andrew’s Chapel staff member Stephen J. Adams, and that he formally reported that concern to Saint Andrew’s Chapel in January 2025. Nichols said that after attempting to leave the church later that year, he and his wife were indicted on multiple charges, including slander, and ultimately excommunicated for contumacy. Nichols stated that “at the heart of this issue is the suspected sexual abuse of our daughter.” Adams has previously denied any wrongdoing and described the allegations as false and defamatory. At the time of this writing, Protestia has not independently verified the claims made by either party.
On March 15th, Stephen Adams wrote a statement describing being accused of “the worst thing someone in [his] position could be accused of”:
On March 19th, Stephen Nichols offered his account of what happened between his family and Adams:
Concerns About the Stated Timeline
Despite public statements now issued by the primary parties to the matter, questions remain about the details of the legal and disciplinary process employed, with confusing gaps remaining in the reporting.
In his statement, Nichols indicates that his daughter’s counselor had reported suspicion of sexual abuse committed by Adams against her to the authorities in January 2024. Yet it was a full year (January 2025) before the Nichols reported their suspicion to St. Andrew’s Chapel leadership, a gap that, so far, remains unexplained. Additionally, it remains unclear whether or not the suspicions were reported to civil authorities, and despite requests and searches, Protestia has been unable to find any evidence of investigation/charges/etc. by civil authorities related to the suspicions.
The Nichols indicated that they had a “different perspective” from the church on how to handle the situation, and that this caused them to notify the church in April that they were searching for another church (a potentially challenging change considering their employment at Reformation Bible College and Ligonier), and again on their “last Sunday” in July. Two days later, according to Nichols, they were both brought under church discipline (presumably in accordance with a process both had agreed to submit to as church members), yet (as the church’s excommunication statement corroborates) a trial never took place.
While the Nichols’ statement does not question the validity of a trial/adjudication before the Session, it seems to imply that the church brought charges yet never gave them their day in court. Yet the church claimed in its excommunication announcement that the Nichols “did not appear nor respond to the citations issued by the Session,” causing the church to “suspend the Nichols from the Lord’s Table and the fellowship of the church.”
The accusation of non-cooperation (contumacy) was notably not disputed in the Nichols’ statement (if true, it would presumably have violated their membership commitment as well as the PCA’s Book of Church Order BCO 31-4/34-4, which the church was submitted to at the time).
As Protestia has discussed on numerous occasions, sexual abuse is a crime. In accordance with the second table of the law and the jurisdiction scripture assigns to the governing authorities in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, sexual abuse falls squarely under the purview and jurisdiction of the civil authorities, not the church.
At the time of this writing, it remains perfectly plausible that the church acted entirely appropriately, the Nichols acted entirely appropriately, or both parties erred. It is not possible that neither party is at fault, of course (considering the nature of the conflict), and hopefully, forthcoming information will shed light on the situation to maximize clarity and minimize further harm to all involved.
Stephen and Heidi Nichols’ full statement:
Any season of transition can be difficult. The narratives and communications circulating about us on social media over the past few days have made this season even more difficult for us and our family. We want to express our deep gratitude for the twelve years we spent at Reformation Bible College and Ligonier Ministries. We are thankful for that time and for the people we had the privilege to serve. We also appreciate that both RBC and Ligonier have conducted themselves in an amicable, gracious, and honorable manner during this season of transition, and we have sought to do the same. Since others have shared their version of events, we believe it is appropriate to share ours. In January 2024, we learned from the counselor of our daughter, Grace, that he had submitted a report to the Florida Department of Children and Families of suspicion of sexual abuse of Grace by Stephen Adams. On January 10, 2025, we reported suspicion of sexual abuse of our daughter by Stephen Adams to Saint Andrew’s Chapel. Over subsequent meetings, we realized that we were at an impasse with our church and that we had different perspectives on how to handle this situation. On April 21, 2025, we notified a pastor at Saint Andrew’s that we would begin the process of finding a new church. We notified him again on July 20, 2025, that it would be our last Sunday (and it was). We each received separate indictments two days later, July 22, 2025. We were accused of slander, unresolved anger, collusion to deceive, failure to follow session directives, and breach of membership vows. There was never a trial, and our case was never adjudicated. After Saint Andrew’s Chapel voted to disassociate from the PCA on December 14, 2025, we immediately resigned our memberships. On Sunday evening, December 14, we joined New Hope PCA in Eustis, Florida, by testimony. On January 27, 2026, Saint Andrew’s found us guilty of contumacy, which is the failure to submit to the authority of the church and refusal to appear before the church. Afterwards on February 25, 2026, at their request, we met with a committee of the session to answer any questions and hopefully bring some resolution to our differences. On March 10, 2026, Saint Andrew’s excommunicated us, not on the underlying indictments, but for contumacy. We remain members in good standing at New Hope and are grateful for the love, care, and support of our pastors and our church during this season. We reported suspicion of sexual abuse of our daughter, we ended up indicted, and we ended up excommunicated. We are deeply saddened by all that has taken place and grieved for everyone involved. Our prayer and hope is that the central issue will not be lost. At the heart of this issue is the suspected sexual abuse of our daughter. —Stephen and Heidi Nichols
