PCA leader’s “scandalizers” list triggers ethics probe, fraternal rift

Bryan Chapell, the chief administrative officer of the Presbyterian Church in America, gestured to the camera with a Post-it note.

“Those are the names of the scandalizers, the people who have invested hours every day attacking others for their supposed lack of faithfulness, for their compromise … whose identity comes from scandalizing others,” he said. “And every name on that list has either left his family, left the faith, or taken his life—every name on that list.”

Chapell, the PCA’s stated clerk, made this statement on an episode of The Gospel Coalition’s Gospelbound podcast last week that focused on the challenges modern churches face with generational divides. The conversation took a turn when host Collin Hansen brought up the subject of men who “spend so much time performing for the applause of their peers by trying to scandalize others.” He asked Chapell what the church could do to discourage such behavior. That was when Chapell held up the list.

While the list was only on camera briefly, viewers were able to pause the video, take screenshots, and read most of the names on it. Since the May 20 release of that episode of the podcast, Chapell’s “scandalizers list” has gone viral on social media, triggered multiple formal ethics complaints against the denomination’s stated clerk, and drawn official letters of concern from sister Presbyterian bodies—an unprecedented rupture in PCA interchurch relations.

Some of the men on Chapell’s list are pastors in good standing with the PCA or with other Presbyterian denominations with which the PCA has fraternal relationships. A number of the men, along with their supporters, dispute Chapell’s characterization of them as “scandalizers.”

Carl Trueman, a professor of Biblical and theological studies at Grove City College and a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, appears on Chapell’s list. Trueman is also a regular contributor to WORLD Opinions. When asked why he would possibly appear on such a list, Trueman told me, “I have no idea. My writings, lectures, sermons and podcasts are not characterized by attacks on other Christians as he claims.”

Not all of those who appear on the list are offended. Wes White, an assistant pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Ill., wrote in a recent blog post that he deserves to be on Chapell’s list because of his intense involvement in church politics over a decade ago. “Being on that list doesn’t bother me,” White wrote. “At one time, I was exactly the kind of person it warns about. But I’m grateful those days are behind me.” White works at the church where Chapell served before taking the stated clerk position.

The list is already affecting interchurch relationships. Trueman said he privately contacted Chapell, who apologized.

“But public actions have public consequences,” Trueman said. “The existence of and display of such a list is having a negative impact on the relationship between the PCA and other NAPARC denominations.” NAPARC, or the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, is the basis of fraternal relationships between the PCA and other denominations. Several of the men on Chapell’s list are members of other NAPARC churches, and at least one of those denominations has sent a letter of concern to the PCA about this incident.

Since the podcast episode aired, denominational members have made multiple formal requests for investigation into Chapell’s Christian character on the grounds that his list may violate the Ninth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). Pastor Doug Hart made such a report, referred to in PCA polity language as a 31-2 request. Hart was close friends with David Winecoff, a pastor whose name appears on the list and who died tragically in 1993 in a mountain climbing accident.

“[Chapell] made a statement that everyone on that list had left the faith, family, or taken his own life … and David was a minister in good standing. His family loved him dearly,” Hart told me. “The only possible reason he would be on there is that Dr. Chapell is suggesting that he took his own life.”

Because there has never been a demand on this scale to investigate the Christian character of any stated clerk in the denomination’s history, some in the PCA question whether the institution will follow through with the correction of one of its most public figures. As the stated clerk, Chapell is not the head of the PCA per se, but he is a public representative of the denomination.

Dominic Aquila has been involved in the PCA since the 1980s. “There were three stated clerks before Chapell: Morton Smith, Paul Gilchrist, and Roy Taylor. None of them ever incurred even the hint of a 31-2 inquiry,” Aquila said. “In fact, in the PCA’s 50-plus-years’ history, not one executive coordinator was relieved of his job. This is not to say that they were always appreciated, but none were fired.”

In Hart’s 31-2 request, he said the list included some people who had departed the faith, but others could not be considered “scandalizers” by any reasonable definition. “I thought it was defaming to David’s reputation, and hurtful,” he said, referencing his friend David Winecoff. “I can’t imagine the hurt of a widow to hear the stated clerk of the PCA after all these years make some statement like that.”

The Gospel Coalition has taken down the interview from its website, and Chapell posted a brief apology statement on the site where it was published. “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,” he wrote. “However, there are now those who have taken a screenshot of the video and enlarged it to identify some names. I sincerely apologize.” Chapell’s office did not respond to a request for further explanation.

For Hart, the list is much more serious than a technical error. “From the time David came to Christ until he went to glory, many people heard the gospel, knew his love and friendship, and were brought to Christ by his life and ministry,” he said. “And that’s how he should be remembered. … To disparage a departed saint is painful, and I don’t know why that would be on our stated clerk’s desk every day.”

Editor’s note: Chapell served as a member of the nonprofit board that governs WORLD from 2007 to 2012.