Saint Andrew’s Chapel votes to leave PCA

The church formerly led by late Reformed theologian R.C. Sproul voted on Sunday to disaffiliate from the Presbyterian Church in America. The Sanford, Fla.-based Saint Andrew’s Chapel was originally founded as an independent Reformed church and had been part of the PCA for just two years. It was one of the largest PCA congregations, with more than 1,000 members. Christian news website Protestia reported that the congregation voted 669-108 to leave the conservative Presbyterian denomination.

The vote came after the PCA’s Central Florida Presbytery in June suspended Saint Andrew’s Senior Pastor Burk Parsons from ministry. He served at the church under Sproul before the theologian died in 2017. But this summer, a PCA church court found that Parsons was harsh toward people under his care and that his leadership style left some feeling bullied, according to its written decision. Parsons denied the charges and earlier this year said he planned to appeal the decision. The church did not immediately respond to WORLD’s request for comment on Monday.

Dig deeper: Read my initial story on Parsons’ suspension.