Prominent PCA pastor Burk Parsons has left the denomination after the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) of the Presbyterian Church in America upheld a verdict finding him guilty of a domineering and harsh leadership style.
Parsons is the senior pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel, a prominent PCA congregation in Sanford, Florida. He is also the chief publishing officer for Ligonier Ministries, editor of Tabletalk magazine, and a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow.
Months ago, he faced charges related to his personal conduct and temperament. In June, the Judicial Commission of the Central Florida Presbytery announced that, after hearing testimony from nearly 60 witnesses and conducting more than 45 hours of trial proceedings, it unanimously found him guilty on three of five charges: (see endnote)
- 1. Being harsh, ungentle, and unkind to those under his care or with whom he interacts
- 2. 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
- 5. Slandering and/or demeaning other servants and churches of our Lord
Parsons appealed, and the Standing Judicial Commission reviewed the case. They ultimately upheld the verdict on charges 1 and 2, but found that “the Record does not support a guilty verdict for charge 5, nor does it support the Censure of Indefinite Suspension.” Lifting his indefinite teaching suspension, they replaced it with an admonition.
During his appeal, Parsons did not dispute the accusations against him, but argued that significant procedural and technical errors occurred throughout the process. The court agreed, but determined they were not significant enough to overturn the verdict.
As a result, Parsons decided to bail.
In a letter sent on Sept. 14, Parsons noted that his church had already voted this past December 669–108 to leave the denomination, and that he was going with them, writing in part:
On December 1, 2025, Stated Clerk Don Mountan wrote to the Saint Andrew’s Chapel Session: “Presbytery will not approve a call for a PCA TE to serve at SAC as a non-PCA congregation.”
In light of that understanding of Article V of the Standing Rules of the Central Florida Presbytery, and in light of the vote of the Saint Andrew’s Chapel congregation on December 14, 2025, to withdraw from the PCA per BCO 25-11, I understand that I cannot remain both a member of Central Florida Presbytery and a pastor at Saint Andrew’s Chapel.
Therefore, I respectfully withdraw from the Central Florida Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America and request that my name be removed from the roll in accordance with BCO 38-3.a.
Fuller letter:
Some of the (more) specifics include actions towards Ruling Elders (RE’s) and congregants:
Notably, they also point out that this isn’t the first time Parsons has faced these type of allegations. Parsons “previously plead guilty to similar charges in 2019 and received admonition at that time.”
This, along with “subsequent reports of relational harm and unhealthy leadership environment, taking place both before and since the 2019 event” indicate an “unresolved pattern, and thus led the Commission to discern that indefinite suspension was the appropriate censure.”
