Ligonier exec. says church excommunicated him, wife after they reported suspected abuse of daughter

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Days after Ligonier Ministries announced that Stephen J. Nichols would end his tenure as president of Reformation Bible College and chief academic officer in May, the well-known church historian says he and his wife, Heidi, were excommunicated by Saint Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida, after they reported the suspected sexual abuse of their daughter.

“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,” the couple said in a statement shared on X last Thursday. “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.”

While St. Andrew’s Chapel isn’t legally a part of Ligonier Ministries, both ministries, which share the same reformed theology, were founded by R.C. Sproul.

Saint Andrew’s Chapel declined to comment on the Nichols’ statement when contacted by The Christian Post on Monday. On March 15, however, Stephen Adams, the recently resigned associate pastor of youth and family ministry at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, said in a statement on Facebook that he filed a police report against the couple in January 2025 after learning that reports of vile things were being circulated about him for most of 2024.

“The Nichols have never once come forward willingly to make accusations, nor have they willingly spoken to any authorities, ecclesiastical or civil. Much less have they ever offered any shred of evidence,” Adams stated.

“They cannot because every word of it is false. Categorically false. Wholly false. Wicked slander against an innocent man. Throughout this entire matter, it has been I, and I alone, who have repeatedly gone to both civil and ecclesiastical authorities,” he added. “Meanwhile, these accusations have been spread far and wide, often under cover of secrecy and anonymity.”

Saint Andrew’s Chapel declined comment on the Nichols’ statement when contacted by The Christian Post on Monday, but responded to the allegations in a March 20 letter to members published on Facebook by “Sons of Patriarchy,” an investigative podcast produced and hosted by Peter Bell and Sarah Bader, in Moscow, Idaho.

The letter, which did not mention the Nicholses by name, stated that the former members of their congregation began to show open hostility towards Pastor Adams in 2024 and that he reported their hostility to the Session.

“This is a key point: the former members never voluntarily approached church leadership or filed any complaints with civil authorities themselves. It was Pastor Adams – the person experiencing the hostility – who brought the matter to the elders and law enforcement,” church leaders state.

While the Nicholses state that they learned about the suspected sexual abuse of their daughter in Jan. 2024, church leaders said they met with the couple multiple times throughout that year, and they never expressed that they had any concerns about sexual abuse until a meeting in early 2025.

“It was not until this meeting that the elders fully understood the family’s suspicions – that they involved an unspecified sexual allegation against Pastor Adams,” the church stated.

Saint Andrew’s Chapel officials said they submitted an initial report to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office based on what they knew at the time and encouraged the couple to make their own report.

It was further noted that the concerns of the counselor who reported the suspected sexual abuse to the Florida Department of Children and Families in early 2024 were investigated and found to lack sufficient information on which to act.

“DCF determined that the information provided did not meet the legal criteria for a reportable incident of abuse, neglect, or endangerment, so they did not initiate an investigation,” the Session said.

“This reflects what the Session itself experienced: no specific incident was ever reported to the elders or law enforcement – no act, no date, no location. The former members expressed general suspicion but explicitly refused to file a formal report on multiple occasions.”

The church also noted that law enforcement told them an investigation could not be opened unless there was a report from a victim or a witness to the suspected abuse.

Despite the lack of such evidence, the church said Pastor Adams was temporarily removed from all ministry roles involving minors for six weeks. During this period, the church said elders worked with a local denominational leader and a qualified external professional organization to review the allegations, but the Nicholses could not substantiate their claims.

“When the former members ultimately refused to provide supporting evidence and law enforcement confirmed there were no grounds for investigation, the Session allowed Pastor Adams to resume his usual ministry roles,” the church noted.

Saint Andrew’s Chapel leaders said Pastor Adams ultimately chose to resign from the church and denied the claim that the Nicholses were excommunicated for raising concerns about him.

“The proceedings (of excommunication) were not initiated because former members raised concerns, but because of their prolonged conduct that disturbed the peace, unity, and purity of the Church,” Saint Andrew’s Chapel officials noted.

“Excommunication was not a judgment on the underlying charges, but a result of the former members’ willful refusal to submit to the Session’s authority. Church discipline, though painful, is given by Christ for the protection of His people, the preservation of truth, and the restoration of those who have strayed.”

Saint Andrew’s Chapel declined comment on the Nichols’ statement when contacted by The Christian Post on Monday, but responded to the allegations in a March 20 letter to members, which was published on Facebook by “Sons of Patriarchy,” an investigative podcast produced and hosted by Peter Bell and Sarah Bader, in Moscow, Idaho.

The letter, which did not mention the Nicholses by name, stated that the former members of their congregation began to show open hostility towards Adams in 2024 and that he reported their hostility to the Session.

“This is a key point: the former members never voluntarily approached church leadership or filed any complaints with civil authorities themselves. It was Pastor Adams — the person experiencing the hostility — who brought the matter to the elders and law enforcement,” church leaders state.

While the Nicholses state that they learned about the suspected sexual abuse of their daughter in January 2024, church leaders said they met with the couple multiple times throughout that year, and they never expressed that they had any concerns about sexual abuse until a meeting in early 2025.

“It was not until this meeting that the elders fully understood the family’s suspicions — that they involved an unspecified sexual allegation against Pastor Adams,” the church stated.

Saint Andrew’s Chapel officials said they submitted an initial report to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office based on what they knew at the time and encouraged the couple to make their own report.

It was further noted that the concerns of the counselor who reported the suspected sexual abuse to the Florida Department of Children and Families in early 2024 were investigated and found to lack sufficient information on which to act.

“DCF determined that the information provided did not meet the legal criteria for a reportable incident of abuse, neglect, or endangerment, so they did not initiate an investigation,” the Session said.

“This reflects what the Session itself experienced: no specific incident was ever reported to the elders or law enforcement — no act, no date, no location. The former members expressed general suspicion but explicitly refused to file a formal report on multiple occasions.”

The church also noted that law enforcement told them an investigation could not be opened unless there was a report from a victim or a witness to the suspected abuse.

Despite the lack of such evidence, the church said Adams was temporarily removed from all ministry roles involving minors for six weeks. During this period, the church said elders worked with a local denominational leader and a qualified external professional organization to review the allegations, but the Nicholses could not substantiate their claims.

“When the former members ultimately refused to provide supporting evidence and law enforcement confirmed there were no grounds for investigation, the Session allowed Pastor Adams to resume his usual ministry roles,” the church noted.

Saint Andrew’s Chapel leaders said Adams ultimately chose to resign from the church and denied the claim that the Nicholses were excommunicated for raising concerns about him.

“The proceedings (of excommunication) were not initiated because former members raised concerns, but because of their prolonged conduct that disturbed the peace, unity and purity of the Church,” Saint Andrew’s Chapel officials noted.

“Excommunication was not a judgment on the underlying charges, but a result of the former members’ willful refusal to submit to the Session’s authority. Church discipline, though painful, is given by Christ for the protection of His people, the preservation of truth, and the restoration of those who have strayed.”

Referencing “narratives and communications circulating about us on social media,” the Nicholses challenged Adams’ statement about them directly last Thursday.

“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,” their statement said.

“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.”

While they didn’t mention him by name, the couple said as a result of the impasse over the handling of the suspicions of sexual abuse, they informed Saint Andrew’s Chapel Senior Pastor Burk Parsons that they would be finding a new church on April 21, 2025. They would inform him of their decision again on July 20, 2025, which was their last Sunday at the church.

Two days later, on July 22, 2025, the couple said they both received indictments from the church accusing them 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,” the couple stated.

They said on Dec. 14, 2025, when Saint Andrew’s Chapel voted to disassociate from the Presbyterian Church in America, which is the largest theologically and socially conservative Reformed denomination in the United States, they immediately resigned their memberships.

Less than two months later, on Jan. 27, the couple said Saint Andrew’s found them guilty of contumacy, “which is the failure to submit to the authority of the church and refusal to appear before the church.”

On Feb. 25, Nichols and his wife said they met with a committee of the session to settle the dispute but were subsequently excommunicated.

“On March 10, 2026, Saint Andrew’s excommunicated us, not on the underlying indictments, but for contumacy,” they said. “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.”