Rev. Burk Parsons, St. Andrews’ Chapel move on from the PCA

The Rev. Burk Parsons preached Sunday mornings at St. Andrews Chapel for two weeks after leaving the Presbyterian Church in America. The chapel’s senior pastor announced via official correspondence Sept. 14 that he was leaving the denomination. In a letter to the Central Florida Presbytery, Parsons declared his intention to resign from the PCA. Days earlier, an ecclesial court decision had exonerated pastor Burk Parsons of slander and lifted his suspension from pastoral tasks, including preaching.

Saint Andrews’ Chapel had already decided that its pastors could no longer have their membership in the PCA due to the strained relationship between the church and the PCA’s regional body, the Central Florida Presbytery. The church, which had been part of the PCA starting in 2023, left the denomination in December 2025 as a result of Parsons’ original suspension, which prevented him from preaching, teaching, administering the sacraments, and participating in church courts until he “showed evidence of repentance.” On its website, St. Andrews describes itself as “an independent congregation in the Reformed tradition.”

Parsons’ decision is the culmination of several years’ worth of conflict between Saint Andrews’ Chapel and the PCA. The Central Florida Presbytery originally indicted Parsons and suspended him from office in February 2025 while they were conducting an investigation against him, and upheld the suspension after a trial in June 2025 found him guilty on three charges. Earlier this month, the highest court in the PCA revoked his suspension and one of the three charges. The court found that two other charges, for harsh and domineering behavior, were legitimate, but Parsons had taken steps to mitigate his “sinful propensity.”

Despite the partial exoneration, Parsons said in his Sept. 14 letter that he was leaving due to the new Saint Andrews’ rule. “I understand that I cannot remain both a member of Central Florida Presbytery and a pastor at Saint Andrew’s Chapel,” Parsons wrote. “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.”