The Administrative Committee provided byFaith with the following statement:

At a called meeting on Thursday, the Administrative Committee met to consider a number of items of business, including the recent announcement by the stated clerk that he will be stepping down from his position. 

The committee received and approved the request of Teaching Elder Bryan Chapell to retire as stated clerk. His retirement is effective immediately. 

The AC met with Chapell and has gratefully received his repentance and apology for his comments on The Gospel Coalition podcast. While recognizing the seriousness of the situation and with regret for its consequences, the Administrative Committee wishes to extend its great gratitude for the years of faithful service Dr. Chapell has given to the PCA and the broader church. In our meeting, we had the opportunity to grieve together, pray together, and rejoice together in the grace extended to us all in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The committee will provide an opportunity for Chapell to address the Assembly when it convenes in Chattanooga for him to present his personal apology. 

Due to the timing of Chapell’s retirement, the AC does not have sufficient time to nominate a new clerk before the upcoming General Assembly in Chattanooga. The committee plans to bring a nominee for stated clerk to the 53rd General Assembly in Louisville. 

As a result, the AC has decided unanimously to employ Ruling Elder John Bise as a provisional replacement pending his examination by the Theological Examining Committee. The PCA’s Rules of Assembly Operation state, “In the event any administrative personnel employed by a Committee or Agency and approved by the General Assembly resigns, dies, or is unable to act, such Committee or Agency may employ a provisional replacement, who has been examined and approved by the Assembly’s Theological Examining Committee, and who shall serve until the next General Assembly” (4-17). 

Bise, a business consultant and ruling elder from Huntsville, Alabama, was elected moderator of the 49th PCA General Assembly in Birmingham in 2022. He has decades of experience in the church courts on all three levels of the PCA. He serves as a ruling elder and clerk of the session at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, and has also served as moderator of Providence Presbytery. Bise describes himself as a “son of the PCA,” having been reared in First Presbyterian Jackson, Mississippi, where three generations of his family had also been members and served.

The committee acknowledges the need for reconciliation and healing between the PCA and some of its sister denominations, as well as specific ministers and members within them. Appropriate steps will be taken to ensure our fellow Reformed and Presbyterian branches of Christ’s church know our deep love for them and desire to continue work alongside them for the advance of Christ’s Kingdom. 

The committee urges churches to pray for our denomination and the upcoming Assembly, that it will prove effective for promoting the unity, purity, and peace of the Presbyterian Church in America.