A Call to Live, Radical Together, and A Compassionate Call to Counter Culture in a World of Poverty, Same-Sex Marriage, Racism, Sex Slavery, Immigration, Abortion, Persecution, Orphans and Pornography. Im incredibly grateful for the courage of our church in staying together and persevering, in pursuing peace in ways that required numerous steps of faith, and for trusting God all the way through to the actual dismissal of the lawsuit, he added. David Platts dreams for McLean Bible Church sour as members file lawsuit over elder vote, Woke war: How social justice and CRT became heresy for evangelicals. Burnett said the group that filed the suit would not agree to meet for reconciliation or to discuss a dismissal. Want to share a story? Its time for the church to lean into these issues with our Bibles open and to see the beauty of the gospel come to bear on a church that for centuries has been divided according to the color of our skin. Five longtime church members Steve Gaskins, Michael Manfredi, Roland Smith, Deborah Ash and Kevin Elwell alleged in the dismissed complaint that McLean Bible Church and its board of elders denied members the opportunity to cast a secret ballot in the elder election held July 18, 2021. The lawsuit was dismissed after church leaders worked through a six-part plan approved by the congregation. Platt has made changes at McLean Bible Church, and some members of the independent church also fear that the churchs ties to the Southern Baptist Convention have become too great. Pastor David Platt preaches at McLean Bible Church, July 18, 2021, in Vienna, Virginia. He told Religion News Service that the church believes it will prevail if there is an appeal. An opposition group had organized and even formed a Facebook group called Save McLean Bible Church to air their complaints. Thursday Worship. Since 2017, McLean has been led by Pastor David Platt, former president of the Southern Baptist Conventions International Missions Board. The multi-site churchs constitution states that the body is to remain independent, unaffiliated with any denomination. One plaintiff celebrated the win as a victory in the fight to restore free and fair elections. We are voting again so that the entire body of MBC has an opportunity to speak into this critical moment in the life of our church, the church said in a statement on their website about the first election. Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here. I dont want to hold back from that. 2005-2023, Media Research Center. Sign up for our NB Daily newsletter to receive the latest news. Courts arent often the ones to adjudicate matters of church bylaws, but Sarah Merkle, an attorney and professional parliamentarian, told CT in 2021 the incident highlights the importance in any church of establishing and following sound voting procedures. Another plaintiff said the ruling is about restoring the rule of law. Some members accused Platt of trading biblical teaching for social justice and Critical Race Theory. "The biblical gospel exalts Jesus above everything in this world," Platt said. Regardless, all six elder candidates received at least 86% affirmative votes. Our mission is to glorify God by making disciples, and multiplying churches among all nations, beginning in greater Washington, DC. Also, at dispute in this case was the move to end the Secret Ballot in McLean Bible Church elections. This toxic way of thinking has taken hold of those who think with their feelings rather than their brains and led to the worst race relations in over 20 years. The churchs constitution requires that new elders receive 75% approval and for the first time in McLeans history, a new group of elders failed to reach that margin. That rounded out the current slate of nine elders. Rumors had begun to circulate around the church that Platt and other leaders planned to sell a church building to a local Muslim congregation for a mosque. We are incredibly diverse, with different backgrounds, perspectives, and personal convictions on a variety of issues. All six elders on the ballot received at least 86% approval. I thought there was more to Jesus than this. I really wanted to write a book to say, to shout, There is! Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "At 28, Pastor Has Five Degrees and a 4,300-Member Flock", "Platt Commissioned by Brook Hills in Final Sunday as Senior Pastor", "Pastor David Platt succeeds Tom Elliff as IMB president", David Platt Joins McLean Bible Church as Interim Pastor; Megachurch's Senior Pastor Stepping Down, "Platt to step down from IMB; Meador named interim president", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Platt_(pastor)&oldid=1151208380, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary alumni, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing cleanup from October 2019, Cleanup tagged articles with a reason field from October 2019, Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from October 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 22 April 2023, at 15:45. Various posts on the Facebook groups page imply that Platt and other church leaders represent forces of evil seeking to destroy the church. Despite living through intense division in his own congregation, the pastor believes common ground is possible. I think about a group in our church that just went through a multi-week journey where they were diving into all these different kinds of issues together, and people sharing passionate disagreements with each other, with tears, borne out of a lot of personal experience and even hurt, but they were listening to each other. He knows something about trials and tribulations, but his new book focuses instead on joy. Satan is working overtime to thwart your plans and destroy you., One says: Praying for the remnant. That is really what is happening here with this motion. The plaintiffs filed a motion opposing the church's request to dismiss the case on June 15. "Why He allowed it, we don't understand, but we know that God has the final say.". Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily. Pastor David Platt, left, prays for President Donald Trump, at McLean Bible Church, in Vienna, Va., June 2, 2019. 20 years ago, Switchfoot unleashed the riff that changed Christian rock, LAs Atheist Street Pirates go national in efforts to remove illegal religious signs, Yes, Virginia, the Constitution does separate church and state, 60 years on, Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail relevant as ever, say faith leaders. Tysons; Arlington; Loudoun; Montgomery County; Prince William; About. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. The MRC is a research and education organization operating The lawsuit claims that the 2021 elder election violated the church constitution, The complaint further alleged that Platt and the current elders tried to purge the church of conservatives to win the elder election. We are pleased that the Court is allowing this case to move forward. Platt said this included a false claim that if members voted for the three elders, the Tysons campus building would be sold to Muslims, and the proceeds would be given to the Southern Baptist Convention. "Further, any persons who were members in June of 2021 would be required to declare that they were still members in good standing if they wished to vote. Platt acknowledged there are issues that divide the church but said Christians must always practice charity. Platt is the pastor of McLean Bible Church in Washington, D.C., and the author of multiple bestsellers, including, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. ", The church says it made efforts to resolve the complaint and invited the plaintiffs to pursue "Christian mediation and reconciliation." To which one longtime church member who counts herself among the critics publicly airs accusations that Platt never should have been brought on as pastor because he is a Southern Baptist and the church was intentionally begun as a nondenominational church. That we would change our stance on abortion and sexuality, that we will allow critical race theory, Black Lives Matter and defunding the police to drive our agenda as a church, he continued, noting that all those claims are unquestionably untrue.. (Clockwise from top left to right) Recently elected McClean Bible Church elders, Chuck Hollingsworth, Ken Tucker and Jim Burris. New Age Thinking Lured Me into Danger. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit objected, saying anyone who joined the church after the June 2021 election should not be allowed to vote. California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. They suggested the process for last summers elder electionas well as the recent redowere designed to uphold selections aligned with current leadership. The factions at McLean, as CT previously reported, reflect broader political and cultural tensions within evangelicalism, particularly around racial justice, with pastors participating in a Christian march following George Floyds death in 2020. under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and contributions to the MRC are WebCNLP 291: David Platt on Hell, Suffering, Eternity and Why the Hard Questions About Christianity Haven't Led to His Deconversion, and What Needs to Change Among Christians to Truly Impact the World CNLP 291: David Platt on Hell, Suffering, Eternity and Why the Hard Questions About Christianity Haven't Led to His Deconversion, and What Needs to Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. While the DC-area congregation celebrates getting to move forward, critics continue to accuse leadership of a liberal takeover. David Platt preaches at McLean Bible Church in June. T he year-long legal fight between McLean Bible Church and a faction who accused leaders including David Platt of a theological takeover has come to an end. WebMcLean Bible Church logo bug Tysons McLean Bible Church logo bug for mobile view. Its largest campus is located in Tysons Corner, Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone by making a one-time donation today. RELATED: David Platts dreams for McLean Bible Church sour as members file lawsuit over elder vote. "I'm convinced that it's not just an American dream that was consuming our lives, it was an American gospel that was hijacking our hearts that has led to all kinds of division and discouragement and disillusion with the church and, yes, many in the next generation disengaging from the church altogether," Platt said. Word and Way posted David Platts Dreams for McLean Bible Church Sour as Members File Lawsuit Over Elder Vote Platt has claimed that the church is trying to fight off a hostile takeover and that Satan is trying to divide the church. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. A lawsuit has been dismissed against McLean Bible Church in suburban Washington, D.C., after apparent resolution of a battle between church leaders and internal critics who believed the conservative evangelical church was becoming too woke.. David Platt is not just a three-time New York Times bestselling author, he is the former president of the Southern Baptist Conventions International Mission Board and current pastor of McLean Bible Church in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.. ", Last summer, MBC announced that three new elders Chuck Hollingsworth, Ken Tucker and Jim Burris had been affirmed by more than 80% of the church family in a congregational vote after a previous election on June 30, 2021, was marred by alleged "irregularities.". "Instead of an eagerness to unite in the church around Jesus, we are quick to divide over the idolatry of personal political convictions instead of enjoying this multi-ethnic beauty Jesus is made possible for us in the church," Platt added. 18 Christian Colleges Closed Since the Start of COVID-19, Died: Charles Stanley, In Touch Preacher Who Led with Stubborn Faith, What Are Evangelical Voters in Iowa Focusing On: Everything, United Methodists Lose 1,800 Churches in Split Over LGBT Stance. For those who are working to reveal the truth and seek righteousness. On Friday, a Fairfax County, Va., judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by dissident members of McLean Bible Church who sought to overturn the results of an election for church leaders, known as elders. Caste discrimination laws remain fraught. We are more equipped than any other people in our culture to think about these issues. The plaintiffs contend that the church board sought to disqualify members from voting, "attempting to purge members by designating them 'inactive' on an arbitrary basis, with no record that the members had missed eight consecutive Sundays, and without investigation into whether the members had 'reasonable excuse,' such as missing services for fear of the coronavirus, or even from the Church's own cancellation of in-person services due to the coronavirus. Those dissident members argued that church leaders, including senior pastor David Platt, a best-selling author, had violated the churchs constitution. McLean Bible Church filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit by claiming the dispute involved religious issues. The lawsuit can move forward with the court applying neutral principles of law to the dispute over McLean Bible Churchs Constitution. David Platt is the popular pastor who heads the Radical and Secret Church brands among other movements. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. ", Plaintiffs contend that the church obtained a greater than 75% majority for the new proposed slate of elders only "after twice adding hundreds of carefully selected new members. Just to hear all the buzzwords and scare tactics they were using, MBC would be gone, down the road leaving the Gospel behind, leaving the Bible behind, embracing liberal theology and cultural Marxism, he explained. Some church leaders and supporters claimed the critics behaved in unethical ways in spreading rumors and rounding up inactive members to come back to church to vote against the slate of elders. [6] At age 27, he became the youngest megachurch pastor in the United States. This book is just the overflow of those joys and challenges in my own life, conviction in my own life, things Im learning along the way that God is sanctifying me, and at the same time encouraging me through his word.. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Critical race crazies are those who follow the ideology of separating people into categories of the oppressed versus the oppressors and seek out ways to find systemic racism in every dimension of American society. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Tensions over 'liberal' direction of David Platts McLean Bible Church erupt in lawsuit. For those who are working to reveal the truth and seek righteousness. Earlier this month, the church requested the case be thrown out after redoing the election at the center of the legal challenge. On June 30, 2021, the election of elders for the first time in the churchs 60-year history failed to achieve the required three-fourths affirmation from the congregation. "Amidst a divisive culture around us, members of our church family have clearly stated that they want to move forward together as a thriving, united church bringing hope to the nations, starting here in Washington, DC. Please click here to learn how. I dont want to be like the world and just isolate ourselves from each other. On information and belief, some of these staff persons voted against the proposed slate of Elders at the Meeting. Churches arent gathering. Enrollment numbers, financial challenges, and the pandemic spelled the end. In 2010, he published the best-selling book titled Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. Biography He was born on July 11, 1978, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. "Plaintiffs sought discovery to identify members illegally purged or placed in inactive status. So Why Are Luther Bibles Selling So Well? Wade Burnett, lead pastor for executive leadership, put the situation in a national context: The conflict at MBC is just one more picture of the larger differences we see all over the country. McLean. 10 Lies the Nets Are Letting Biden Get Away With, Nets Spend 658 Minutes on Trump, 0 Seconds on Biden Family Corruption. Defendants have repeatedly violated MBCs constitution, and trampled on the rights of their membership to have an honest vote to choose their leaders, lead attorney for the plaintiffs Rick Boyer said in a statement to the press. The plaintiffs were pleased with the ruling. He noted that he had been fighting to challenge the church on these points for about two years without success and urged Platts critics to quietly walk away instead of tarnishing the churchs reputation. In that election, the elders were approved, which led dissident members to file a lawsuit. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". For those who are working to reveal the truth and seek righteousness. The dispute came to a head in 2021, soon after David Platt left the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention to become full-time pastor of the nondenominational church that is home to many of Washingtons conservative elite. You might think there is no way people would believe that, and I wish I was making this up, Platt said. Pastors announced the outcome across its locations on Sunday. [9] In September of that year, Platt was introduced as pastor-teacher of McLean Bible Church. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. This is the beauty of what we can do as the body of Christ, he said. He explained that most of the people who didnt support the direction of the church had already left and if they were to succeed in ousting Platt more than half of the current members (essentially the majority of the young people) would leave.. "[L]ast month, the Board concocted its latest strategy to deny this Court opportunityto grant effective relief. They will stop at nothing to force individuals back into a time when everyone noticed race and judged others based on their physical attributes. Other publications include Follow Me: A Call to Die. "We still are churches segregated in so many ways by the color of our skin.". Churches are not immune to this toxicity either. Once discovery begins, we will enter perhaps most interesting phase of the case. I considered writing an opinion, but given what has been presented, I dont find the issues to be novel or groundbreaking, Judge Mann said. Platt, the author of Don't Hold Back: Leaving Behind the American Gospel to Follow Jesus Fully, told the Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast that he wants to see Christians unite around Christ and to practice charity on issues where "the Bible is less clear or less direct.". Remember God goes before you. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. Growing tensions between disgruntled longtime members of McLean Bible Church in Virginia and the "liberal" direction they allege their Lead Pastor David Platt has been taking the congregation erupted in a lawsuit over a recently held controversial election of new elders some fear could tear the church apart. [1], Platt studied at University of Georgia in journalism and earned a B.A..[2] He also earned a M.Div, Th.M, and PhD from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The election came amid simmering unrest at the church, where political polarization in the wider culture seeped into the congregation the larger woke war in the evangelical world. ", "In the meantime, Defendants steadfastly resisted Plaintiffs discovery requests," the plaintiffs added. As weve noted in other reports, discovery is the thing that scares Big Evangelical leadership the most. I wanted to share some of my own personal journey of how being in, leading and being a part of a multiethnic church with a lot of different brothers and sisters from different backgrounds and different perspectives, and leading alongside people from a variety of different backgrounds and perspectives, has been so eye-opening and so helpful for me. The Facebook group Save McLean Bible Church states that the congregation is witnessing corruption, lack of transparency, deception, slandering, intimidation, and use of the pulpit to bully members of the church.. Over the past 4 years that he has been at the church there have been multiple cases of his personal biases creeping into his sermons. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. At the time he was the youngest megachurch pastor in the United States. The runup to this dispute overlapped a period of tremendous divisiveness in American politics and religion, including the 2020 presidential election, COVID-19 and a summer of racial reckoning sparked by more police murders of unarmed Black citizens. Sign up for our newsletter: He became pastor-teacher at McLean Bible Church in 2017. The five McLean Bible Church members who filed suit claim that David Platt, the McLean Board of Elders and McLean Bible Church illegally removed We believe the same thing would happen on appeal in this matter, as our church has now voted and revoted in ways that are crystal clear. Hope youll give us another try and check out some other articles. "And then there's a freedom in the body of Christ, to learn from each other, have different perspectives on different things [and] to have good, healthy discussions marked by humility, and openness around those things. I know that many churches across America have faced and are facing similar challenges during these days, and it is vitally important that we move past division and live out John 13:35, demonstrating love for one another and love for a world in need of Jesus, Platt said in a statement Monday. All six elders on the ballot received at least 86% approval. Platt said the campaign mainly targeted the Tysons campus of the multisite megachurch as the other four campuses Arlington, Loudon, Montgomery County and Prince William were almost unanimous in their affirmation of the three elders. On Friday, a Fairfax County, Va., judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by dissident members of McLean Bible Church who sought to overturn the results of an election for Jacquelyn Martin/AP Trump came straight from his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, and when he entered the church, he was dressed in khaki pants and a jacket over a polo shirt. While both Platt and the church itself would appear to outsider observers as well on the conservative end of the political and theological spectrum, some members accused Platt of trading biblical teaching for social justice and Critical Race Theory. Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here. "This has been a difficult season for our church, as well as for the broader Church here in the U.S. And yet, I'm so thankful for the growing unity and enthusiasm we've been experiencing in the midst of it all," Kelsey, the lead pastor of the Montgomery County campus, said in response to the dismissal. The Plan proposed to allow a new vote on the Elders but one that would not only include the hundreds of new members selected by the Board in December, six months after this action sought to preserve the status quo, but would also conveniently elect hundreds of new members selected by the Board in May, just before the sham Elder vote in June," the plaintiff's motion reads. All active members were allowed to vote. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. ", "Families and friendships and congregations and countless other foundational parts of our lives have been upended and changed in ways that have been both painful and disorienting," Burnett added. Video screengrab via MBC. To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. But we are unified in our commitment to obeying God's Word, loving our neighbors, and bearing witness to the amazing grace that can only be found in a relationship with Jesus.". You've read 0 of 5 of todays most popular posts. Every time this lawsuit has been filed or amended or refiled, it has resulted in a dismissal, he said. Rick Boyer, attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said his clients plan to appeal. He knows something about trials and tribulations, but his new book focuses instead on joy. They organized a new vote for elders in mid-June 2022, using secret ballots. After the failed election, a second election was scheduled a few weeks later, but this time members were required to sign their ballots. Platt believes American Christians have gotten really good at following a really bad gospel one that worships American ideas over biblical truth. They attempt to avoid this at all costs, filed false motions with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Scandal plagued James Merritt resigns as visiting professor at SEBTS, SBC seminary intends to enforce Biden vaccine mandate, Vivek Ramaswamy & James Lindsay on winning the Culture War, Snowflakes at TBR ban a Christian Nationalist, McLean Bible Church hid financial dealings with SBC from its Treasurer, Johnny Hunt sues Southern Baptist Convention. Article Images Copyright Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. The pastor was among many who participated in protests against police brutality following the 2020 death of George Floyd. In February 2018, he announced his resignation from the IMB on the hiring of his successor.[10]. David Platt is not just a three-time New York Times bestselling author, he is the former president of the Southern Baptist Conventions International Mission Board and current pastor of McLean Bible Church in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. [3], In 2014, Platt was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board. In hismessage to the congregation on July 4, 2021, Platt said a group of activists inside and outside the church coordinated a campaign to vote down the new elders and seize control of the church. This is a breach of contract action seeking to remedy Defendants illegal actions to deny Plaintiffs their rights to cast a free and fair vote, to have those votes lawfully counted, and to enjoy their right to a secret ballot. This past spring, hoping to resolve the dispute, McLean leaders decided to discard the results of the July 2021 elder election. Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.