The PCA is one of the better denominations in America, in that they are mostly conservative; however, those conservatives lack institutional power, as was evident when their missions organizations supported mass immigration. Much like the SBC, those in the inner circles are disproportionately liberal, and their institutional weakness weakens the witness of the church in a declining culture.
This past week, the PCA’s Stated Clerk, Bryan Chapell, went on Gospelbound, The Gospel Coalition podcast hosted by Collin Hansen. Hansen is a liberal who often uses his podcast to introduce heretical ideas into the Church, such as Jen Wilkin’s “women’s advocate” role, which is essentially a workaround to a ban on female pastors. Being the Stated Clerk, Chapell serves as the secretary and parliamentarian during the PCA General Assembly.
During the podcast, Chapell stated the following:
You may have seen me glance aside, and the reason I did that was—I’m gonna show this to you quickly. I keep the note on my desk. Those are the names of the scandalizers, the people have invested hours every day, attacking others for their supposed lack of faithfulness, for their compromise, whose identity comes from scandalizing others. And every name on that list has either left his family, left the faith, or taken his life. Every name on that list. It amazes me. I’ve done this for almost fifty years now, been in ordained ministry, and I can tell you almost with certainty: those who build their reputations on destroying the reputations of others will end up with terribly dark lives.
During the podcast, he waved the following list on the camera:
One PCA Pastor decoded the list as follows. Descriptions have been added for context of who these people were:
(Bayly Bros ?) – Blog critical of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Tim Bayly – Of the Bayly Blog
Ken Pierce – Pierce did have a fall from ministry and eventually killed himself.
Lane Keister – OPC Pastor. Witness in the trial of Leithart.
Wes White – White has since confessed to being worthy of being on that list for being too harsh when dealing with Chapell and Keller.
Frank Smith
(J. ?) Myers
(P. ?) Leithart – Peter Leithart was involved in a Federal Vision trial with the PCA.
David Winecoff – Winecoff has been dead for several decades, but was associated with the death of Elizabeth Mackintosh, who was featured in a 2023 “True-Crime” podcast produced by “exvangelicals.” The documentary insinuated that Winecoff died of suicide, contrary to the claims of the family. Winecoff died in 1993 from a mountain climbing accident. He would be the one Chapell claimed died by suicide.
Jeff Hutchison
[?]
(F. Graham?) – If the Franklin Graham, the head of Samaritans Purse and a conservative pastor.
Aimee Byrd – Notorious Feminist, formerly OPC.
Michelle Higgins – A BLM activist, formerly PCA, “pastors” Saint John’s Church (UCC) in St. Louis.
Carl Trueman – Famous theologian, weak on political issues, elevated Aimee Byrd.
Daryl Hart – Darryl Hart, history professor at Hillsdale College, Reformed theologian and WTS graduate.
Bill Smith – Dead.
Phil Hardin
Liam Goligher – Former Philadelphia Pastor who pleaded guilty to sexual acts in a public park with a female deacon. This case is falsely called sexual abuse when it was adultery.
Carl (Thurman?)
Carl McIntyre – Pastor of Bible Presbyterian Church in NJ, died in 2002.
Several of the names belong on the list, while others are clearly slanderous in nature, especially the insinuations against men who have been dead for decades. Some of the names were likely scavenged from headlines, while it is evident that Chapell watched the true-crime podcast, which discussed Winecoff. Byrd and Trueman were probably linked together, while Higgins is clearly a walking scandal.
The Gospel Coalition released a pair of statements in retracting the video:
Statement from Bryan Chapell:
With deep regret for harm done to others, I am issuing a public apology for not taking proper care to protect the reputation of others. In an unplanned moment on a recent video podcast posted by The Gospel Coalition, I held up a small piece of paper that I believed was not readable but included names of individuals. TGC personnel who prepared the video also thought that nothing was legible on the paper. However, there are now those who have taken a screen shot of the video and enlarged it to identify some names. I sincerely apologize.
Statement from Collin Hansen:
This podcast has been removed. I couldn’t read the names over video and did not check during editing to review the list. I apologize for neglecting that review.
Chapell does not apologize for any of the slanderous claims he insinuated, but only that the names were legible.
Meme Warfare
In the aftermath of the enemies list, the internet had a field day turning Chapell’s list into a meme. People were posting mock lists of names on a sticky note or an index card and posting pictures online. Most notably, Pastor Matthew Everhart, a popular PCA YouTuber native to Pittsburgh. Normally, a reserved commenter on the cultural issues, even he made a meme out of Chapell.
Overall, Bryan Chapell revealed much about his petty nature. The notion of a grown man keeping a list of “scandalizers” in the church (legitimate or otherwise) is ridiculous and vindictively petty, especially to have that list on standby at one’s desk ready to be deployed on a podcast at a moment’s notice. It is petty, but not as pathetic as Josh Buice’s burner accounts.
2 Responses
The most striking thing is Chapell’s notion of what it is to leave the faith. If you are not an institutional loyalist, then you go on that list. Readers might do well to look further into some list members. Lane Keister, for example, has a blog, greenbaggins.wordpress.com which has for years maintained a consistently high level of intellectual engagement and done so without losing civility. (I say this even though I generally disagree with what he has to say.)
Chapell includes on his list both pro and anti-Federal Vision people. Their sin would seem to be their willing to fight over what they consider to be the truth instead of being good company boys. By the way, the J. Myers on your list is actually Jeff Meyers, one of the major originators of the Federal Vision. Frank Smith was one of those who contended for confessional faithfulness in the PCA until he finally concluded that the PCA was a lost cause and went over to one of the Presbyterian micro-denominations. Of course, to Chapell, leaving the denomination is leaving the faith.
The only one that I have actually met is Wes White, but that was back in the days when he was still contending for the truth against blatant heresy in his presbytery. He has since gone squish, but that still does not redeem him in the Chapell’s eyes.
For brief bio of Frank Smith, see:
https://atlanta-rpc.org/us/leadership/