Burk Parsons’ Trial Expected in Late April or May

An email to the St. Andrews congregation noted the charges are not criminal in nature.

Burk Parsons, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, and a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries, will be tried by the Central Florida Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) sometime between late April and mid-May, according to an email sent to members of the St. Andrew’s congregation. The trial will not be public.

Burk Parsons / Video screenshot @Ligonier Ministries

Parsons was suspended from his duties as pastor of St. Andrew’s in February after a presbytery judicial commission indicted him on two charges for violation of his ordination vows. The church’s elders have filed a complaint about the suspension.

“We want to note that the charges Dr. Parsons is being accused of are not criminal in nature. According to our understanding of Chapter 29 in ‘The Book of Church Order’ (BCO) concerning the different kinds of sinful offenses, they are alleged personal offenses related to communication and leadership,” the email stated.

According to the PCA Book of Church Order, those vows state the following:

No. 5: Have you been induced, as far as you know your own heart, to seek the office of the holy ministry from love to God and a sincere desire to promote His glory in the Gospel of His Son?

No. 7: Do you engage to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all your duties as a Christian and a minister of the Gospel, whether personal or relational, private or public; and to endeavor by the grace of God to adorn the profession of the Gospel in your manner of life, and to walk with exemplary piety before the flock of which God shall make you overseer?

Parsons pleaded “not guilty” to the charges at a meeting with the judicial commission on March 6.

The elders of St. Andrews asked the congregation to pray for the members of the judicial commission, for those who brought the charges, and Stephen Adams, an associate pastor at St. Andrew’s who has volunteered to be Parsons’ defense counsel.

“Lastly, please pray for our pastor, Dr. Parsons. Scripture reminds us to ‘Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer’ (Romans 12:12), and this is our aim as we continue to walk through this process,” it concluded.

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