In 2023, Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, FL, elected to join the PCA after being an independent Presbyterian church famously helmed by R. C. Sproul. This began a series of events as the successor to Sproul, Burk Parsons, has been embroiled in controversies for several years stemming from allegations of his harsh and vindictive leadership style.
In June of 2025, Parsons was suspended from ministry indefinitely after the Central Florida Presbytery found him guilty of three of five charges, ultimately convicting him of “harsh leadership, unkind treatment of others, and neglect of pastoral duties.” The specific incidents he is being cited for include allegedly shoving a congregant into the water while he was wearing a suit over his inability to kick a smoking habit and other instances of verbal abuse.
Parsons served with Ligonier Ministries, serving as the Executive Editor of Tabletalk magazine. At the time, Ligonier backed Parsons, allowing the appeals process to play itself out:
The charges on which he was found guilty relate to certain instances of his communication and oversight, specifically tied to his ordination vows (vows 5 and 7 in the PCA’s Book of Church Order 21-5). These are not criminal charges, nor do they involve severe moral misconduct, such as sexual or financial sins.
Due to the nature of the charges, they refused to remove him from their ministry at the time, citing the desire to wait for the actions of both the Presbytery and the local church. As of now, Parsons is still listed as the Executive Editor.
In December, St. Andrews Chapel voted 86% (669-108 ) to withdraw from the PCA. This church has also been criticized for its lack of financial transparency, pertaining to budgets and salary information to its members.
In 2026, St. Andrews Chapel would move to excommunicate Dr. Stephen Nichols on the charge of contumacy, which is a glorified term for refusal to submit to judicial proceedings.
The decision of excommunication applied both to Nichols and his wife, Heidi. St. Andrew’s Chapel does not expound upon what underlying charges the Nichols family refused to answer. The absence of stated charges is a discredit to their merit, for if these were serious charges, then they would enumerate them to avoid speculation.
From the context, it appears that Nichols has not been attending St. Andrew’s Chapel and was brought up on charges by the leadership of a church he no longer attends. Thus, the couple had no need to answer the charges while attending a different church. Given the recent history of the church’s abrupt departure from the PCA under the circumstances of Burk Parsons, these events are almost certainly connected.
Nichols serves as President of Reformation Bible College and was a teaching fellow at Ligonier. On March 13th, Reformation Bible College, which is affiliated with Ligonier, announced the conclusion of Nichols’ tenure at RBC, stating that he would serve out the semester ending in May. If the charges and excommunication were legitimate, it would make little sense for Nichols to remain as president during the transitional period. Since the disciplinary actions by SAC began in January, this further undermines the credibility of the unstated underlying charges against Nichols.
Nathan Bingham, host of Ligonier’s Renewing Your Mind podcast, also announced his departure this last week, which makes two high-profile departures at Ligonier in a single week.
Analysis
The departure of Nichols from RBC and his subsequent excommunication from SAC are undoubtedly related. Both Parsons and Nichols are affiliated with Ligonier and the former church of RC Sproul. It is highly likely that Parsons’ antics as senior pastor of one of the largest former PCA churches led to families leaving the church, and one of those families being the Nichols. It is very well possible that the church has taken retaliatory actions against Nichols for leaving the church without their permission.
The scandals surrounding Burk Parsons have reverberations against the legacy of both Ligonier Ministries and Reformation Bible College and ultimately bear a stain upon the legacy of RC Sproul. It appears to affect more than one man and is leading to a series of departures at Ligonier and its related ministries. Where there is smoke, there is fire, and questions remain unanswered.
Ligonier Ministries and St. Andrews Chapel were requested for comment and the article will be updated upon their response.
4 Responses
As a Ligonier Ministries Partner, I was shocked when I got the email that Nichols and Bingham were leaving. Something is going on and I wish they’d be more transparent about it especially to their financial supporters. I’m thinking about stopping my giving.
RBC scrubbed Nichols’ page from their website, which seems unusual if he is still the president and transitioning out while Ligonier’s website already lists him as the former president of RBC.
James 4:11: “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
As a member at SAC, I wholeheartedly disagree with you about the failure to enumerate the charges. That amounts to gossip (and possibly slander) since they did not sit for church discipline. They absolutely should not enumerate the charges without the Nichols’s having been found guilty. But refusal to appear before the Session and submit to church discipline is a problem. When we join, we affirm that we will submit for such discipline, should there ever be reason to.