But when she aligned herself with Gods purposes, she became the Mother of All Living.. ", "We believe that although Satan intended to harm and destroy McLean Bible Church, God intended it for good," another Facebook post reads. A lawyer for the plaintiffs had said MBCs response fails to be even a pretense of a good-faith offer to resolve the case and called it a continuation of the Board of Elders determination to avoid transparency and accountability at all costs.. Satan is working overtime to thwart your plans and destroy you. As evidence, he points to a group within his church that meets together regularly, people who are opposites of one another on many issues. Following the first failed election, a second election was held in early July 2021, this one where members had to sign their ballots which critics said violated the church practice of using secret ballots. Lawsuit against McLean Bible Church, David Platt dismissed "The biblical gospel exalts Jesus above everything in this world," Platt said. At the time he was the youngest megachurch pastor in the United States. Plaintiffs pray this Court to enjoin Defendants from taking numerous threatened actions to deny Plaintiffs those rights in a congregational vote scheduled for the morning of Sunday, July 18, the members argued. You might think there is no way people would believe that, and I wish I was making this up, Platt said. Because the plaintiffs would not agree to meet or discuss a dismissal, MBC filed a formal motion on June 10 asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit and to recognize the clear desire of the MBC congregation to move forward in unity under the leadership of elders who were nominated and elected by church membership.". 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. The 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. But through it all, God has been both present and faithful, and in his word we are provided with a clear call to pursue peace so far as it depends on us. The discouragement and disillusionment within the body of Christ is "the fruit of a false gospel," he asserted. COVID-19 also played a role. Mission trips arent happening. Rick Boyer, attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said his clients plan to appeal. Ephesians 6:12.. McLean Bible Church 2005-2023, Media Research Center. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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. We hope you will! We can experience it., The result is Dont Hold Back, a book his publisher says encourages followers of Jesus to take necessary risks and find unimaginable reward.. Earlier this month, the church requested the case be thrown out after redoing the election at the center of the legal challenge. 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.". They were encouraging each other. He told Religion News Service that the church believes it will prevail if there is an appeal. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. The churchs constitution requires that new elders receive 75 percent approval and for the first time in McLeans history, a new group of elders failed to reach that margin. 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.. The three elders recently resigned at the direction of a churchwide vote and were put up for a new vote along with this years nominees; all six were elected on June 6 with more than 86 percent in favor, the church said. [5], In 2006, Platt was introduced as the new senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. At McLean Bible Church on June 2, 2019, Pastor David Platt prays over then-President Trump.. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin). Heres why they shouldnt be. Burnett said the group that filed the suit would not agree to meet for reconciliation or to discuss a dismissal. He referred to emails circulating that accused the candidates of wanting to turn the church into a mosque and a message claiming, MBC is no longer McLean Bible Church, that its now Melanin Bible Church., In the lawsuit, plaintiffs claimed MBC barred some opponents from voting in a follow up election held in July 2021 and that its board purged members with no measurable standard for making the determination the Constitution requires and with the sole intent of predetermining the outcome of the Meeting.. The plaintiffs filed a motion opposing the church's request to dismiss the case on June 15. David Platt The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Its way past time for us to turn the tide on that history., The modern church is better equipped to tackle this challenge than many believe, he asserts. Return to homepage. Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. Once discovery begins, we will enter perhaps most interesting phase of the case. 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. Theres so much more to the church and so much more to Jesus. He knows something about trials and tribulations, but his new book focuses instead on joy. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. 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. 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. 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. The five McLean Bible Church members who filed suit claim that David Platt, the McLean Board of Elders and McLean Bible Church illegally removed church members just prior to the vote in an effort to predetermine the outcome of Elder elections. The Capstone Report interviewed some of the members who found themselves removed prior to the critical elder votes. Every time this lawsuit has been filed or amended or refiled, it has resulted in a dismissal, he said. 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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. Bart Barber, Majority of pastors love to preach but few like counseling and discipling believers more: study. David clearly did not know his flock or listen to them when they shared their concerns.. "Where the Bible is less clear or less direct, we're not looking to unite there [because] we're united around Jesus and the authority of His Word and what the Bible is most clear about, at the core of the gospel," he added. The elimination of the secret ballot will likely subject these staff persons to discipline up to and including termination and being publicly dismissed from the Church fellowship at the hands of the powerful Board of Elders, who should this Court not intervene will know, to a person, how each member and staff person voted, the disgruntled members argued. Please click here to learn how. Remember God goes before you. All Rights Reserved. People will only put up with this extremity for so long before they fight back, we can only hope that Platt will fall flat when it comes to pushing his radical agenda even further. A religious liberty newsletter that is a must-read for people of faith. Nothing has been forthcoming up to the date Defendant filed its Motion for Plea in Bar nearly a full year since this action commenced.". David Platt David Platt (pastor) - Wikipedia He knows something about trials and tribulations, but his new book focuses instead on joy. The problem is, over recent years, weve shown our muscles arent strong and need to be strengthened by the Spirit of God., He summarized: We have such an opportunity to show a different way in the world that the Spirit of God leads us to do and the love of God leads us to do. Regardless, all six elder candidates received at least 86% affirmative votes. Temple City Grace Baptist Church McLean Bible Church announced that three new elders, Chuck Hollingsworth, Ken Tucker, and Jim Burris, had finally been affirmed by more than 80% of their church family in a congregational vote last Sunday, after a previous election on June 30 was marred by irregularities.. I think that's what's been exposed over the last few years is we've looked to things to unite us that were never intended to unite us, when it comes to some different convictions on different things where the Bible is less clear or less direct.". 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 If David Platt was upset in July, just wait for the next couple of months. WebPastors Diego and Cindy Mesa. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The leaders of McLean Bible, one of the D.C. regions largest and most high-profile evangelical churches, are facing attempts from its own members to spread For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. GLOBALIST EVANGELICALS: HOW DEEP IS 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. 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. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Sign up for our NB Daily newsletter to receive the latest news. Churches are not immune to this toxicity either. The rift at McLean comes amid concerns over Platt's and other pastors' approaches to racial justice issues. 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. At McLean, this dispute spilled over into the election of elders. Any member who had changed churches due to the tainted election of June/July 2021 would be required either to lie or not be allowed to cast a vote despite the fact that they would have been entitled to do so at the tainted 2021 election. About [8], In February 2017, Platt began serving as interim teaching pastor at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia. Bible Study. Article Images Copyright Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. (Clockwise from top left to right) Recently elected McClean Bible Church elders, Chuck Hollingsworth, Ken Tucker and Jim Burris. 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. 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. David Platt, pastor of McLean Bible Church near Washington, D.C., and founder of Radical, a resource ministry that serves churches, preaches during the second session of the two-day 2019 Pastors' Conference held June 9-10 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. They were helping each other understand different perspectives. David Platt, pastor of McLean Bible Church near Washington, D.C., and founder of Radical, a resource ministry that serves churches, preaches during the ChristianHeadlines.com is a member of the Salem Web Network. 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.