PCA stated clerk faces ethics probe over ‘scandalizers’ list

The stated clerk of the second-largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States could potentially face an ethics investigation after he displayed a list of people he publicly accused of being “scandalizers.”

During an episode of The Gospel Coalition’s “Gospelbound” podcast last week that touched on institutional stewardship, the Rev. Bryan Chapell, who has served as the administrative head of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) since 2020, briefly showed a list of people whom he accused of either abandoning their families, renouncing Jesus Christ or dying by suicide.

“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,” Chapell said. “And every name on that list has either left his family, left the faith, or taken his life — every name on that list.”

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

Several of the men on the list are ministers in good standing with either the PCA or an adjacent Presbyterian denomination; one name was that of a former PCA pastor who never left his family or faith before dying in an accident 32 years ago, according to his friend.

“Bryan is Teflon, but I don’t see how he survives this,” one source within the PCA told The Christian Post.

Chapell’s list, while shown briefly, went viral on social media over the weekend after viewers paused the video and zoomed in on the names, which included figures such as Carl Trueman, a bestselling author of The Rise of the Modern Self and an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

‘Troubling’

Multiple ministers within the PCA have condemned Chapell’s behavior as “disturbing,” sending denominational leadership letters of concern, a template of which was obtained by CP. The template letter accuses Chapell of violating the Ninth Commandment, which prohibits bearing false witness against one’s neighbor.

“While keeping a list of men judged by [Chapell] to be ‘scandalizers’ within arm’s reach of his desk is certainly odd behavior, the men denounced on that list is deeply disturbing,” the letter said in part. “It is even more troubling that [Chapell] was willing to display that list on a video interview.”

The PCA’s administrative committee released a statement Saturday, assuring they “are aware of concerns regarding an interview that first appeared on The Gospel Coalition website and was conducted with our stated clerk.”

“We are deeply grieved for any injury that resulted from this in the lives of individuals and families. Likewise, we are saddened by any disruption this has caused to the peace of the Presbyterian Church in America as well as other Presbyterian and Reformed denominations,” the statement also said, adding that a meeting was planned to address the issue.

The Gospel Coalition has since pulled the podcast. Chapell issued an apology statement while drawing attention to those who made the podcast and the individuals who zoomed in on his list and publicized it.

“With deep regret for harm done to others, I am issuing a public apology for not taking proper care to protect the reputation of others,” he said.

“In an unplanned moment 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. TGC personnel who prepared the video also thought that nothing was legible on the paper. However, there are now those who have taken a screen shot of the video and enlarged it to identify some names. I sincerely apologize.”

Trueman, a professor of biblical and theological studies at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, said he had “no idea” why he was included on Chapell’s list, according to WORLD.

“My writings, lectures, sermons and podcasts are not characterized by attacks on other Christians as he claims,” he said.

Trueman told the outlet that Chapell has privately apologized to him but warned that the stated clerk’s actions will have “consequences” that could impact the fraternal nature of the Presbyterian churches within the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC), which includes Reformed churches in multiple denominations in both the U.S. and Canada.

Chapell’s list appeared to include the late Rev. David Winecoff, a PCA pastor who died during a mountain climbing accident in 1993 at age 39, according to a local obituary. Winecoff, whose alleged decades-old sins Chapell did not explain, was survived by his wife, four children, brother, mother and grandmother.

Pastor Doug Hart, a PCA pastor and friend of Winecoff who said he was hurt by Chapell’s accusations, formally requested an investigation into Chapell’s behavior and pushed back against what he interpreted as the stated clerk’s implication that Winecoff took his own life, according to WORLD. Hart called his late friend a loving, godly man.

“[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 said. “The only possible reason he would be on there is that Dr. Chapell is suggesting that he took his own life.”

“From the time David [Winecoff] 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 added. “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.”

‘Don’t lie’

The Rev. Peter J. Leithart, an author and minister on Chapell’s list who serves as president of Theopolis Institute for Biblical, Liturgical, & Cultural Studies in Birmingham, Alabama, issued a statement on X refuting his placement on the list and suggesting Chapell’s apology was inadequate. He also defended fellow list member Jeff Meyers, who serves on the Theopolis Fellows faculty and board.

“First things first: Neither Jeff nor I are apostates. Both of us have been married for decades. Neither of us, last I checked, has taken his own life. Nor do we spend our lives destroying Christian brothers,” said Leithart, who quoted one observer who dismissed Chapell’s apology as the “Platonic form of the non-apology.” Leithart described the apology as “apologizing that the names could be seen, but not for the lies he told about the men on the list.”

“There’s nothing complicated here. The lessons are obvious. Simple things like, ‘Don’t lie,’ and, when you’re confronted with lying, ask forgiveness for lying, not for a procedural error. And, don’t settle ecclesiastical scores on podcasts and social media. Settle them in the church, as Jesus commanded,” he added.

The Rev. Andy Webb, a pastor in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church who also made the list, issued a statement on social media noting “that rumors of my demise (or apostasy or divorce) have been greatly exaggerated!”

Webb speculated that he became an alleged scandalizer in 2001, when Chapell was president of the PCA’s Covenant Theological Seminary. Webb became involved with concerns that the school was allegedly allowing a woman to deliver sermons in its chapel.

An overture to address the issue was raised at the PCA General Assembly that year, said Webb, who claimed Chapell dismissed him when he personally confronted him over the topic.

“As I began to speak, he raised his hand and said, ‘Never attempt to speak to me again’ and walked away,” he wrote.

The administrative committee of the PCA did not respond to a request for comment.

The uproar over Chapell’s public conduct comes weeks before the PCA’s 52nd General Assembly in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The PCA has repeatedly made headlines in recent months regarding multiple politically and racially charged controversies that have emerged from Mission to North America (MNA), its North American missions arm.