Grace Presbytery Deposes and Excommunicates Former Pastor Christopher Willett of First Presbyterian Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi

A Mississippi pastor who led First Presbyterian Church in Crystal Springs has been deposed from ministerial office and excommunicated from the Presbyterian Church in America, according to a May 2026 report from roysreport.com. The Grace Presbytery voted unanimously to take both actions at a called meeting, as reported by byFaith. The report identifies the pastor as Christopher Willett, 48, who was formerly senior pastor of the congregation.

According to a March 2026 report from churchleaders.com, Willett was arrested in March 2025 and charged with several sex crimes, including statutory rape, sexual battery, unnatural intercourse, computer luring of a person, and child sex abuse material. That report says a 19-year-old woman went to the Crystal Springs Police Department with a family friend, who is also a psychologist, alleging that Willett had abused her since she was 15. The second report gives a different account of how the case began, stating that the criminal case started in March 2025 when Willett’s daughter reported the abuse to police. The two reports do not agree on who first brought the allegations to authorities.

The churchleaders.com report says investigators executed search warrants on Willett’s vehicles, laptops, cell phone, and home. Because Willett had firearms in his home, investigators asked him to meet them at city hall under the pretense of discussing another matter, the report states. It says he was taken into custody without incident.

The churchleaders.com report, citing WLBT, said Willett was set to plead guilty to three counts under a plea agreement. The charges to be pleaded to were listed as statutory rape, sexual battery, and incest, and the report said he faced more than two decades in prison. The roysreport.com account, citing the District Attorney’s office, says Willett pleaded guilty in March to statutory rape, sexual battery, and incest. The court sentenced him to 30 years, with five years suspended and 25 years to serve. Upon release, he must serve five years of supervised probation, register as a sex offender, and is barred from contacting the victim.

Protecting the vulnerable is the concern at the center of the criminal case, which the court record and the investigation as reported describe as involving a victim who was a minor when the abuse allegedly began (Psalm 82:3).

The roysreport.com account says that at its May 2026 meeting, the Grace Presbytery recorded a not-guilty plea for Willett, set a trial for June 9, found him guilty, and imposed the censures of deposition and excommunication. The report does not say how the presbytery’s proceedings related to the earlier guilty plea in the criminal court. The presbytery’s action is reported as the final step in the church process. The report does not describe any further appeal or response from the congregation.