Public Documents Concerning the Defrocking of R.C. Sproul, Jr and the Saint Peter Presbyterian Church Session

On January 26, 2006 R.C. Sproul Jr, Laurence Windham, Wayne Hays, and Jay Barfield were stripped of their ministry ordinations and deposed from their office as Elders of Saint Peter Presbyterian Church by the Westminster Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Assembly (RPCGA), by a Declaratory Judgement.

Declaratory Judgment (Word file)
Declaratory Judgment (pdf file)

The documentary evidence relied upon by Presbytery in arriving at their judgment and passing of sentence is now considered by the RPCGA to be public information.

As of this date there is already a great deal of internet blogging and speculating on the events surrounding R.C. Sproul, Jr. and the St. Peter Presbyterian Church session being defrocked from the ministry. These documents are posted here to provide clarity regarding the evidence and testimony, as well as R.C. Sproul, Jr's own admissions and confessions, which led to Presbytery's decision to strip him of his ministry ordination and depose him from the office of Teaching Elder.

The documents are presented, for the most part, in chronological order, in either Word and/or Adobe Acrobat files.

The Ecclesiastical Tyranny and Spiritual Abuse of R.C. Sproul, Jr and the Saint Peter Presbyterian Church Session:

A significant factor in the decision to defrock R.C. Sproul, Jr. and the St. Peter Presbyterian Church session is the ecclesiastical tyranny and spiritual abuse they perpetrated against a number of St. Peter Presbyterian Church families and individuals over several years. The Presbytery termed this, "abuse of authority in an inexcusable manner."

Noteworthy among these acts of ecclesiastical tyranny and spiritual abuse is the John Austin family because it was the first that had been documented, and the first which petitioned Presbytery for redress. On April 17, 2005 John Austin sent a letter to R.C. Sproul, Jr. and the session of Saint Peter Presbyterian Church, informing them that he was withdrawing his membership at St. Peter over doctrinal disagreements, and that he would be seeking out another church in the area more in accord with his Reformed Baptist views. In his letter he stated, "We in no way want to cause problems or divisiveness," and he expressed his desire to be at peace with the brethren:

StPeterElders04-17-05.doc
StPeterElders04-17-05.pdf

On May 14, 2005 R.C. Sproul, Jr. and the session of Saint Peter Presbyterian Church voted unanimously to censure John Austin "for contumacy (failure to repent) by breaking his vows of membership." John's punishment included, "The refraining from all contact with your family by the other families in our church." In other words, the congregation of St. Peter Presbyterian Church was ordered to shun not just John Austin, but the entire Austin family, including Julie Austin and the Austin's five children. The majority of the St. Peter Presbyterian Church congregation dutifully complied, and only a few did not:

AustinCensureLetter.doc
AustinCensureLetter.pdf

On November 25, 2005 St. Peter Presbyterian Church member Peter Kershaw sent letters to the St. Peter Presbyterian Church session expressing his objections to the ecclesiastical abuses being perpetrated against the Austin family. His letter was cc'd to the Westminster Presbytery of the RPCGA:

Austin11-25-05.doc
Austin11-25-05.pdf

On December 7, 2005 John Austin received from R.C. Sproul, Jr. a letter of repentance:

RC_Sproul_Jr_Repent.pdf

Though R.C. Sproul, Jr.'s "repentance" occurred quite quickly after Peter Kershaw mailed his letter of protest to the St. Peter Presbyterian Church session, it should be noted that Peter Kershaw had mailed the St. Peter Presbyterian Church session a total of three letters, in quick succession, chronicling a litany of egregious abuses of authority of their office, including ecclesiastical tyranny and spiritual abuse perpetrated against multiple families (including his own) over several years, financial improprieties (to put it here in the politest of terms) tax ID fraud, and numerous other even more serious allegations. R.C. Sproul, Jr. was, in each case, the chief perpetrator, with his session in each case being complicit. As such, it was not "the Austin" letter alone which so quickly brought R.C. Sproul, Jr. to his "repentance."

On the same day as John Austin received R.C. Sproul, Jr.'s letter of repentance, he also received a second letter of alleged "repentance" signed by each member of the St. Peter Presbyterian Church session, including R.C. Sproul, Jr. The first letter, signed by R.C. Sproul, Jr. alone, appeared to be sincere. However, with the second letter it became apparent that there was no genuine repentance at all. The session's letter was replete with excuses, self-justifications and blame-shifting.

SPSessionRepent.pdf

At the same time as John Austin received his letters of "repentance" from R.C. Sproul, Jr. and the St. Peter Presbyterian Church session, he also received a letter of release of membership in St. Peter:

SPRelease.pdf

Upon hearing of the Austin's release from membership in St. Peter Presbyterian Church, former member Rick Saenz emailed John Austin a note of congratulations and his personal letter of apology. Rick Saenz is the only former or current member of St. Peter Presbyterian Church who has ever offered any genuine apology to the Austins:

Saenz_AustinApology.pdf

On December 17, 2005 St. Peter Presbyterian Church member Brent Fontinot sent a letter to Presbytery informing the Moderator of his personal observations of the ecclesiastical tyranny and spiritual abuse perpetrated by R.C. Sproul, Jr. and the St. Peter Presbyterian Church session against the Austin family:

Fontenot.doc
Fontenot.pdf

On December 9, 2005 John Austin sent a letter of thanks to the RPCGA, Westminster Presbytery:

RPCGAWestminsterPres.doc
RPCGAWestminsterPres.pdf

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There are a plethora of other allegations, along with supporting documents, in the Presbytery's case file. I'm quite familiar with the case since it was I that prepared a great deal of it. At this time those documents are not considered public information, and I will honor Presbytery's request to maintain the confidentiality of all other case file documents.

 

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