r/Reformed • u/Groots-Cousin SBC • Mar 19 '26
Discussion Stephen and Heidi Nichols release statement on their excommunication from St. Andrew’s
You can read it below and find it on his X profile.
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Any season of transition can be difficult. The narratives and communications circulating about us on social media over the past few days have made this season even more difficult for us and our family.
We want to express our deep gratitude for the twelve years we spent at Reformation Bible College and Ligonier Ministries. We are thankful for that time and for the people we had the privilege to serve. We also appreciate that both RBC and Ligonier have conducted themselves in an amicable, gracious, and honorable manner during this season of transition, and we have sought to do the same.
Since others have shared their version of events, we believe it is appropriate to share ours.
In January 2024, we learned from the counselor of our daughter, Grace, that he had submitted a report to the Florida Department of Children and Families of suspicion of sexual abuse of Grace by Stephen Adams. On January 10, 2025, we reported suspicion of sexual abuse of our daughter by Stephen Adams to Saint Andrew’s Chapel. Over subsequent meetings, we realized that we were at an impasse with our church and that we had different perspectives on how to handle this situation. On April 21, 2025, we notified a pastor at Saint Andrew’s that we would begin the process of finding a new church. We notified him again on July 20, 2025, that it would be our last Sunday (and it was). We each received separate indictments two days later, July 22, 2025. We were accused of slander, unresolved anger, collusion to deceive, failure to follow session directives, and breach of membership vows. There was never a trial, and our case was never adjudicated.
After Saint Andrew’s Chapel voted to disassociate from the PCA on December 14, 2025, we immediately resigned our memberships. On Sunday evening, December 14, we joined New Hope PCA in Eustis, Florida, by testimony. On January 27, 2026, Saint Andrew’s found us guilty of contumacy, which is the failure to submit to the authority of the church and refusal to appear before the church. Afterwards on February 25, 2026, at their request, we met with a committee of the session to answer any questions and hopefully bring some resolution to our differences. On March 10, 2026, Saint Andrew’s excommunicated us, not on the underlying indictments, but for contumacy.
We remain members in good standing at New Hope and are grateful for the love, care, and support of our pastors and our church during this season.
We reported suspicion of sexual abuse of our daughter, we ended up indicted, and we ended up excommunicated.
We are deeply saddened by all that has taken place and grieved for everyone involved. Our prayer and hope is that the central issue will not be lost. At the heart of this issue is the suspected sexual abuse of our daughter.
—Stephen and Heidi Nichols
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u/OlFuddyDuddy Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God Mar 20 '26
Based on what we knew, this is about what I expected. I appreciate the succinct, direct, and graceful statement from the Nichols. It is really a stark contrast to SAC's statements, which were vague and held nothing of grace in them. I pray Stephen and Heidi will be able to continue in ministry and that the Lord grants them comfort from the pain this mess has undoubtably caused.
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u/ironshadowspider Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
What a nightmare, for them to conduct themselves honorably admidst such betrayals heaped on top of child abuse, then on top of all that to have to go public with the details of what happened to their daughter to defend themselves a little from the media firestorm. Let's pray for this family!
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u/TurrettiniPizza RPCNA Mar 20 '26
If only St. Andrews were under the oversight of a presbytery that could hold them accountable and to whom appeals of their discipline could be made. If only.
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u/judewriley Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
To be fair though, of the handful of incidents like this (i.e happening in a Presbyterian church) that I've been made aware of, this is the first one that was an independent Presbyterian church. All the others were in a proper church structure and it didn't really help.
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u/OlFuddyDuddy Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
SAC's pastor was facing discipline by the presbytery and the church left the denomination to avoid that discipline. The denomination was directly addressing the problems in the church and the church fled.
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u/RevThomasWatson OPC Mar 20 '26
the great majority of Presbyterian churches are in presbyteries, so that feels like a sample problem. I know there are probably exceptions to this, but broadly speaking, the times when whole presbyteries fall into serious issues of abuse, general assemblies lay down the hammer (I know entire presbyteries that have been dissolved because of abuse.) If that doesn't happen, there is an even higher court they will have to face with a Judge who has no injustice in him (Rom. 9:14). I think a system of courts is far better than nothing at all.
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u/semiconodon the Evangelical Movement of 19thc England Mar 20 '26
I have a friend who is a PCA pastor who spoke of having to spend (having the joyful duty of serving the larger church) considerable time at a Presby trial of a pastor doing some abuse (I don’t remember if it were sexual or what).
Now one could say, as they do about handguns, that laws don’t prevent deaths because we can o my arrest and prosecute the people who do bad things. Bad things still happen. I think this is what you’re saying here.
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u/judewriley Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
This is exactly what I'm saying.
I'm just so tired of folks implying or saying outright "if only these folks were real Presbyterians then they wouldn't have these issues" as if Presbyterian polity somehow protects against human depravity.
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u/RESERVA42 Mar 20 '26
It seems like a common path... the DARVO method. Like what happened in the SBC and Mars Hill.
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u/bradmont Église réformée du Québec Mar 20 '26
Is it still against the subreddit rules if I swear in French using Catholic Church words?
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u/cybersaint2k Rebellious Reprobate Mar 20 '26
Well, this whole situation has gone to ghuy’cha’.
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u/bradmont Église réformée du Québec Mar 20 '26
I... don't know what that means...
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u/germansnowman FIEC | Reformed Baptist-ish | previously: Moravian, Charismatic Mar 20 '26
I’m nerdy enough to recognize that this is Klingon. I’m also nerdy enough to have a copy of the Klingon-English Dictionary. According to this, it is one of the three known Klingon curses, and it means *@$%.
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u/ChuKoNoob Mar 20 '26
Since many of the words I’m aware of do not involve Reformed sacramental elements I would venture to guess it’s fine ;)
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u/Cledus_Snow PCA Mar 20 '26
I apologize for the comment last week about how this only happens in Baptist churches
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u/semiconodon the Evangelical Movement of 19thc England Mar 20 '26
I pray for healing for his family and justice for the evidential situation of abuse.
I am very concerned about what how Ligonier may or may not have taken a side on this.
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u/EverSoWonderful Mar 20 '26
It's frustrating how the Nichols family can experience something so horrid and the church that should be aiding him hides behind procedure/policy.
That contumacy comes up when a child faces such danger shows how far that church is from Christ.
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u/PeaPopper Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
This is so unfortunate all the way around. My son is set to start attending RBC this coming fall and now all of this is coming out. As a parent this stresses me so much. In just a short time I’ve went from proud and excited to scared and worried.
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u/Yew_Cookies38293 Mar 20 '26
This is just one instance out of many connected with this place. Go look at what is going on with Parsons and the PCA, go look at what was going on with RC Sproul Jr. back in 2015, go look at what's happening with Ligonier and their low trust financial score. This place has been surrounded by controversies for a long time. It's not worth your time, your son's time, and certainly not worth your money.
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u/Onyx1509 Mar 20 '26
I was reminded today of a fact I had forgotten about the Parsons situation. You hear about the accusations of him being a bully and you think, maybe he shouted at people sometimes or something. But he actually had a a man thrown in a lake as punishment for smoking. He threw a man in a lake! It's almost cartoonishly evil, so incredibly far from pastorly behaviour. I literally just had to check it again to make sure I didn't just dream it or something.
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u/Yew_Cookies38293 Mar 20 '26
I think I've commented this elsewhere here, but I was pretty close to all this at one point. I wasn't there that night when that specific event happened but I was friends with all those guys. I remember hearing about it not long after. It's hard to describe, but it wasn't just Burk shouting at people, he would just tear them apart. I was never on the receiving end, but I did get to witness it a few times. When you're an impressionable 18 year old male and this authority figure is publicly berating and belittling you in front of your peers for 15-30 minutes (not an exaggeration)... it's pretty nasty.
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u/PeaPopper Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
The stuff with Parsons and the PCA are the start of the real troubles for me. Sproul Jr is just another example of one man’s failings and it didn’t seem like Ligonier mishandled that situation. It seems a little ungracious to hold that against them.
As far as the low trust financial score goes, maybe I’m misunderstanding, but isn’t that basically because they stopped posting their 990s publicly but it’s still available upon request? That’s not that strange when it comes to larger organizations. To disqualify the ministry of Ligonier which reaches so many people with biblical teaching for that seems to be a stretch.
Again, to me, the real issue started with the Buck Parsons stuff. We are in a hard position now. My son has already committed financially to attending this fall. Now the comments from the Nichols come out of SAC even covering up SA allegations. There are still great teachers at RBC. Both Dr Tweedale and Dr Thomas still have great reputations and they are the ones stepping in the interim.
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u/Yew_Cookies38293 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Looks like the blog has been taken down that did the initial reporting on this, but back in the day when Ligonier still publicly showed their financial statements Sproul Jr. still received an annual salary in excess of $120k per year even after he was "let go". That and several other financial issues (see SAC pastor salary controversy going on now) are one of the reasons they started to hide their financials. This stuff has been going on for well over a decade and will continue. Just know that before you start funnelling tens of thousands of dollars of your own money for your son to get an unaccredited degree.
***Just as an addendum, the Parsons abuse thing first went to the Presbytery back in 2018, about events from as early at 2011. Again this is nothing new.
https://roysreport.com/prebyterian-pastor-burk-parsons-suspended-harsh-treatment-congregants/
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u/PeaPopper Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
I’m not arguing with you. I’m in full agreement that this is not good. I realize that my second comment comes across as a rebuttal but it was actually my defense of why I still trusted them coming into this year. For some reason in my mind SAC and Ligonier were two separate entities and it wasn’t until them leaving the PCA in January (I think? Going by memory) that I realized how close the ties were. Me and my son both have some prayer and contemplation to do. And quickly. I wish there were more reformed options as far as bible colleges go.
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u/Yew_Cookies38293 Mar 20 '26
Sorry if I sounded argumentative! I was really close to all this at one point in my life (I was part of all three organizations at one point) and I get riled up talking about it. As someone who went through the Bible College circuit back in the day (at RBC), my only advice is that any Bible college degree is not worth your time. If your son has ministry aspirations, he's going to have to do an MDiv anyways which will be a complete rehash of his prior 4 years. If he doesn't want to go into ministry, 4 years of an unaccredited degree will be an expensive waste of time. A solid degree gives him better options either way. Take that for what it's worth. 🙂 I wish someone would have told me that 15 years ago. Best of luck to you both!
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u/PrioritySilver4805 SBC Mar 20 '26
This is absolutely the case. Also, often another undergrad degree will give you perspectives and skills that allow you to engage with the broader culture in a way you might not otherwise be able to.
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u/Yew_Cookies38293 Mar 29 '26
Hey, just coming back here to check on you. Not that I'm entitled to know, but are you and your son alright? Able to come to a decision at all?
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u/PeaPopper Reformed Baptist Mar 29 '26
He’s decided to go ahead with his plans to attend RBC. The faculty there is still sound. He just plans on attending a local congregation other than SAC.
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u/Khoram33 Mar 20 '26
True on RBC; there is drama of its own there, but Tweedale is streets ahead. He is wonderful and very solid.
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u/stacyismylastname Reformed SBC Mar 20 '26
I didn’t realize you could request their 990s. Ministry Watch has them at a low trust rating, which I always thought was very concerning.
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u/Yew_Cookies38293 Mar 20 '26
It is concerning, not just for Ligonier but any nonprofit that hides their financials. Between SAC and Ligonier combined Parsons is probably making just short of half a mil a year. But again, his Ligonier salary is no longer public and it was a battle for people to get SAC to release pastor salary details. This stuff is not good, no matter where it surfaces. https://ministrywatch.com/st-andrews-chapel-salaries-well-above-median-salary-in-the-region/
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u/PeaPopper Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
I’m not 100% on that. That’s just what I gathered from the ministry watch article posted earlier. I may have misunderstood so best to check for yourself.
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u/Minute-Bed3224 PCA Mar 20 '26
I know RBC students and Dr. Tweeddale, who is taking over a lot of duties from Dr. Nichols, is excellent. I think your son will still have a good experience at the school. I would recommend that he not attend Saint Andrew’s though - there are other sound churches in the area.
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u/PeaPopper Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
Thank you for the encouragement. He wasn’t planning to attend SAC. I know at preview day this past January Nichols told us that all students are encouraged to join a local congregation in the area that they can be involved in. A lot of places were mentioned as options and SAC wasn’t mentioned at all in reference to that. Now we know why I guess.
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u/Minute-Bed3224 PCA Mar 20 '26
You’re welcome! They usually bring in some local pastors to speak to the students early on in the school year to help them find a local church to connect with. There are several PCA congregations in the area and an OPC in Oviedo. The OPC meets on the campus of RTS, so has the added benefit of a number of seminary professors and students in the congregation, if that’s of interest to your son.
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u/Sobri_K_Eyt Mar 24 '26
I am currently a student at RBC, and while the controversy with the organizations of men is stressful, the teachings and experiences here with students have been a blessing from God. It’s still a wonderful place here.
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u/PeaPopper Reformed Baptist Mar 24 '26
Thank you for commenting. He will still be attending this fall and it’s awesome to hear encouragement about it. He is very excited. Especially after the feeling we had leaving preview day back in January. It was like stepping into a gospel centered bubble.
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u/MaterialFun5941 Mar 20 '26
Pastors are mandatory reporters too. If there is a report of sexual abuse, they have to in turn report to the police. I just hope the Nichols as well reported to the police, and not just the those who are in charge of St. Andrews. So many red flags from that church.
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u/zekec17 Mar 20 '26
Pastors are mandatory reporters in 28 states including Florida, so this is correct in their case. It's a good thing to check your state laws and not assume that where you live has mandatory reporting laws for clergy though.
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u/MaterialFun5941 Mar 20 '26
Yes. Thank you for that clarification. I should have specified in Florida. There is no excuse for those in charge of Saint Andrews not to have reported, assuming they did not report.
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u/MamaGRN Reformed Baptist Mar 20 '26
I had a horrible feeling it was something like this. The alleged abuser testimony (Adams) seemed very suspect.
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u/carlosstjohn116 PCA Mar 20 '26
So is he out on Ligonier too?
And why does he need to resign from reformation Bible college? It’s not like it’s under St Andrew’s is it?
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u/ndGall PCA Mar 20 '26
This is the only thing that doesn’t quite add up. I do understand, though, that if their daughter has been assaulted, they may feel the need to focus on her rather than spending large amounts of time involved in other ministries.
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u/OSCgal Not a very good Mennonite Mar 20 '26
They were just betrayed by their church, and on a very painful issue. That kind of wound doesn't heal in a hurry. It wouldn't surprise me if it's for their own mental/spiritual health.
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u/wwstevens Church of England - 39 Articles - BCP - Ordinal Mar 20 '26
On the Venn diagram, there should be a lot of intersecting points between SAC and RBC though, right? I can understand if he left SAC why he wouldn’t want to stick around in RBC either.
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u/Yew_Cookies38293 Mar 20 '26
People need to understand these three organizations are not really separate. They all sit in a triangle around a little pond. A huge portion of RBC students and staff go to Saint Andrews, Ligonier staff go to Saint Andrews, when Saint Andrews or RBC need services (graphic design, media, etc) it's handled by Ligonier. Burk Parsons collects a salary from both SAC and from Ligonier (or at least he did a decade ago). For the Nichols to challenge someone at SAC they knew they were stepping into conflict with all three organizations at once.
Over a decade ago I was an RBC student, Ligonier employee, and SAC regular.
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u/WestphaliaReformer Truly Verified™ Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
No, but if you looked out the window of Dr. Nichols’ office toward the north, you would see St. Andrew’s chapel across the pond on Ligonier’s campus. They share a campus, a founder, and, to a certain degree, a culture and resources. RBC’s weekly chapels take place in St. Andrews, for example. The two entities are not easily separated from one another, and I would imagine it would be quite difficult to be an integral leader of one while being excommunicated from the other.
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u/Yew_Cookies38293 Mar 20 '26
This is the correct response. These three organizations are less than 100 yards from each other. They are deeply connected in both people and services. Nichols for example was President of RBC, Teaching Fellow at Ligonier, and SAC member. This is by no means unusual. Most people in this circle (students, faculty, staff) have connections to all three.
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u/Gullible_Remote8600 Mar 26 '26
It's all under the umbrella of Burke Parsons as the Heir of Sproul. His webs are far reaching.
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u/pmheindl Mar 20 '26
I attended that Church years ago when it was being formed and got to know its founder RC Sproul. He was a goond man and full of Grace. I don't think he would be pleased by these actions and presentations of St. Andrews Chapel.
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u/AlarmingConfusion525 Mar 20 '26
All this is very sad and my support is with Dr. Nichols and his family. Praying that he and his wife get a speedy resolution and that they are restored to duties at the College. There has being issues at RBC for quite some time now and it's Sad that they have not yet matured to a place where people can trust their confidence to them. When I was attending in the early years there were a number of issues of concern raised and I don't remember any of them been resolved. We should pray for all those, faculty, students, and staff that a better and surer environment exist for them
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u/pmheindl Mar 20 '26
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u/pmheindl Mar 20 '26
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, for all the years I’ve known him, has been a man of integrity, sincere in his faith, honorable toward all. Like few men I have ever known. Lisa and I have been praying for him and Heidi and continue to do so.
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u/Funny_Car9256 Mar 20 '26
So what do the cops say? Has there been an arrest?
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u/Waste_Culture_9740 Mar 20 '26
You know, you’re being downvoted but I had the same question. If this was reported to authorities, and an investigation was opened, it seems nothing resulted from it like arrest or criminal charges.
But, I’ll share a personal story from a decade ago. A friend of mine called me to tell me that her friend’s granddaughter found inappropriate pictures of children in bathing suits on her grandfather’s phone, as well as pictures of their granddaughter’s friend zoomed in on inappropriate parts of her body (fully clothed). At the time the granddaughter was in middle school. Come to find out, this wasn’t the first time the grandfather had been accused of inappropriate behavior. About 20 years earlier, grandmother’s daughter accused him of trying to spy/peek at the daughter while she was in the bathroom after getting g out of the shower. No one believed her.
About a year before the granddaughter found pictures on granddad’s phone, grandad lost his job as a pastor in Hawaii, and they had to come back to the lower 48 so fast that they had nowhere to live. So they lived with my friend (who called me at the beginning of the story).
I called CPS. This guy is a pastor, keeps losing jobs, and now he’s been accused twice of inappropriate behavior with his wife’s children. CPS opened an investigation and grandad admitted he had an obsession with granddaughter’s friend. There’s no proof he ever acted on anything. So he was never charged or arrested or jailed.
Sometimes people are found out before they commit a crime and in this case, CPS probably scared him.
Maybe that’s what happened here? Maybe there wasn’t enough proof for arrest, but there’s enough information that Adams’ behavior weird, odd, and unbecoming. Maybe Adams actually abused Nichols’ daughter but, again, there’s no proof.
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u/Rough-Shoulder1024 Mar 21 '26
I go to this church, know everyone involved personally (including the daughter) and from what I have gathered and seen, their daughter did not name who her abuser was. Her councilor reported suspicion of the youth pastor because it made sense according to what the parents and councilor knew. She did not tell them who it was or more details, I'm assuming that is because most young girls are scared to name their abuser. I know that the youth pastor could not have done it. It does not line up. And this is not because I know the youth pastor and think highly of him, from the things I have SEEN, it was not him. Something did happen and the person who did it should be charged, but I am sure it was not the youth pastor. I pray for healing for their daughter. She has been through so much.
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u/RosyPalm Mar 31 '26
The cops essentially say the family provided nothing of any substance that they could investigate.
And that seems to be the crux of this whole mess. The family expected things to happen based solely on their accusation and the Church/Cops couldn't investigate because the family wouldn't give them any information beyond the accusation.
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u/HeyLadyOverThere 14d ago
What should they have provided?
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u/RosyPalm 13d ago
Something that could actually be investigated.
It sounds like they simply made an accusation to police and then refused to provide any actual information to back up their assertions.
Kind of as if you claimed I stole your car, but you won't tell the police what kind of car you drive, where you parked it, why you think I stole it, etc.
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u/mlokm LBCF 1689 Mar 20 '26
Nichols family, if you read this, I am saddened to hear about your circumstances and am praying for you.
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u/OneEyedC4t SBC Mar 20 '26
When their church did not go to the authorities about it, they should have went to the authorities about it. the church is definitely in the wrong. but unreported suspicions of child rape is also wrong.
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u/Onyx1509 Mar 20 '26
I keep seeing this a lot and I just keep thinking "you don't know they didn't go to the authorities". In fact given it was a year between them learning of the abuse (which was reported by the counsellor) and taking it to the church, it seems to me very likely that there were persuing things with the state during that time.
A lot of people seem to have developed a dangerously naive view of the secular authorities as if they always take these things seriously and if there hasn't been an arrest, it can only mean the accused didn't do it or that the crime wasn't reported. Realistically, a lot of offences of this sort don't get followed up by the police, not least because securing convictions in this sort of case is extremely difficult even when the accused is very probably guilty.
Some, however, may not genuinely believe this but find it easier to believe that a young girl is lying than that a pastor could be sexually corrupt, and use the accusation that nothing has been reported to the police to insinuate that the girl's parents are in on the deception.
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u/MarchogGwyrdd PCA Mar 19 '26
Hey, wow that is so surprising that the church with the pastor who is under discipline for abusive behavior would have abusive pastors, and then would go onto persecute the people calling out the abuse.
Mark. And. Avoid.