Parsons’ Church Court Verdict Mostly Upheld, Censure Reduced
Slander charge reversed because of definition.
Burk Parsons, teaching fellow with Ligonier Ministries and pastor of St. Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, will no longer be indefinitely suspended from his duties.
Burk Parsons / Video screenshot @Ligonier Ministries
The Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) of the Presbyterian Church in America, the denomination in which Parsons is ordained, modified his censure after his appeal, reducing it from an indefinite suspension to an admonition.
According to the panel’s decision, which the full body adopted Friday, Sept. 11, the SJC upheld two charges — being harsh and being domineering — but reversed the charge of slander.
The SJC determined that the definition of slander used by the prosecutor in the case, Jerry Klemm, was improper. He had defined slander as “any derogatory statement, true or untrue, that diminishes and harms another person intentionally or unintentionally.”
Instead, the SJC said the definition used should have been more in line with the traditional legal standard for slander: “Slander is a form of defamation consisting of a false oral statement of fact (not of opinion), published to a third party that harms the reputation of the person slandered.”
Klemm, speaking as an individual and not on behalf of the Central Florida Presbytery that imposed the original sentence, told MinistryWatch he disagreed with the SJC’s decision to overturn the slander charge because he believed the definition he used was “scripturally sound” and based on the Ninth Commandment. But he said he was grateful the SJC upheld the most serious charges of being harsh and domineering against Parsons.
The SJC wrote that it believed Parsons had taken “significant steps on the path to remedying the behaviors listed in the charges,” and reduced his sentence to an admonition accordingly.
“You have caused harm to others and to the peace of the Church,” the SJC wrote to Parsons. “But you have taken steps toward mitigating this sinful propensity. We encourage you to continue in those steps with a deep and abiding love for Christ and for his people in a way that brings honor to our Lord and joy to your ministry.”
Klemm said reducing Parsons’ censure from an indefinite suspension to an admonition was “overly generous,” noting that Parsons was accused of similar behavior in 2018 and received only an admonition at that time.
According to the 2018 admonition, Parsons was charged with “[l]eading those under his care in an unnecessarily harsh manner, [e]xercising poor judgment in his dealings with the men in his discipleship group, and [u]sing unkind and unhelpful speech with particular individuals under his care.”
Klemm said he was saddened for Parsons, St. Andrew’s Chapel and Ligonier, because he is concerned the reduced censure will likely mean “business as usual” and that Parsons will “continue his same patterns of behavior.”
The original censure of an indefinite suspension, Klemm said, required that Parsons be monitored by a committee and engage in intentional efforts to discern the reasons behind his behavior, meet with those who had been injured and repent.
By reducing the censure, Klemm said, the SJC “gives Parsons and his supporters the fuel that they need to continue the narrative that this was no big deal.”
The seven members of the Central Florida Presbytery’s judicial commission, who made the initial decision in Parsons’ trial, have objected to the SJC’s decision, including the lessened censure.
The commission members said they remain “greatly concerned” for Parsons and noted that more evidence has come to light since his trial.
“Victim testimonies and private text messages prove that the episodes of harshness and spiritual abuse associated with Parsons and his ministry at Saint Andrew’s Chapel and Ligonier Ministries are not isolated anomalies,” the commission wrote.
In an interview with MinistryWatch after last summer’s trial, Klemm gave insight into his interactions with Parsons’ victims. He said witness testimony dated back as far as 2007 and demonstrated a pattern of domineering, unkind and harsh behavior.
Klemm said he saw pain in the eyes of those who had been wounded by their shepherd, and he knew their pain was real. In fact, Covenant Presbyterian Church in Palm Bay, where Klemm is senior pastor, made funds available for specific victims to receive counseling.
“We desire only the best for Parsons, St. Andrew’s Chapel and Ligonier Ministries, but we continue to believe that TE [teaching elder] Parsons should be suspended from ministry until he receives professional counseling and demonstrates repentance and a changed life,” the commission members added.
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Ligonier Response
Ligonier Ministries, founded by R.C. Sproul, where Parsons serves as a teaching fellow, said the SJC’s censure does not alter Parsons’ service with the ministry.
“His contributions over many years have been a gift to this ministry, and we are grateful to continue serving alongside him,” Ligonier Chairman Robert Godfrey said in an email statement to MinistryWatch.
“I thank God for Dr. Parsons’ integrity in submitting to this long process, and I ask you to keep praying for Dr. Parsons and his family, for Saint Andrew’s Chapel, and for all involved in this matter. Above all, we pray for God to be glorified in the church’s peace, purity and unity,” Godfrey added.
St. Andrew’s Response
Parsons sent a letter to the Central Florida Presbytery on Sept. 14, resigning his membership in the presbytery.
In a separate letter that day, St. Andrew’s Chapel leadership told its congregation, “In practical terms, the censure that has restricted Pastor Parsons’ ministry has been removed.”
“At the same time, the decision leaves in place two findings that require continued humility, care, accountability and growth,” the letter said, adding details about the procedural errors the SJC identified.
“We name these procedural errors not to reopen wounds but because naming them without also naming their cost would be dishonest,” the letter said, adding that Parsons and his family “bore a heavy personal burden.”
The church said Parsons has “acknowledged publicly” his sinful propensity and has sought the counsel of a Christian counselor and trusted ministerial friends.
St. Andrew’s Chapel voted to leave the Presbyterian Church in America in December 2025, after joining the denomination in 2023 for greater accountability.
St. Andrew’s leadership complained that the Central Florida Presbytery acted in ways that were more “disciplinary” than “pastoral.” It also cited the release of a complaint to the media — MinistryWatch — that it said “inflicted pastoral and reputational injury on our church and leadership.”
The complaint that allegedly inflicted that injury was originally released at the Aug. 19 Central Florida Presbytery meeting. The presbytery had passed a motion to release all documents pertaining to cases coming before it so members could review them before the next meeting, on Oct. 14. The complaint was one of those documents released to more than 200 elders.
MinistryWatch published the content of the complaint after receiving it from an anonymous source. The document, compiled by St. Andrew’s elder David Zima, included information about the reported compensation for pastors at St. Andrew’s Chapel.
“We pray that TE Parsons will not remain impenitent but will truly repent and become the consistently gentle, kind, and loving shepherd he is called to be,” the Central Florida Presbytery objection concludes.
In the MinistryWatch database, Ligonier has a Donor Confidence Score of 36, meaning donors should withhold giving. Ligonier stopped filing a Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service in 2019, so its executive compensation is not published. It posts its audited financial statements on its website; the most recent shows about $50 million in revenue in 2025.
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