Platt made further allegations that people came from places as far away as Florida and Maine to vote. McLean Bible Church was once the biggest in Virginia. Platt taught the course to about 1,000 church members. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. For instance, that they would sell the Tysons location and use it to build a mosque. When qualified elders do not oversee the hiring of pastoral staff, we endanger the flock to the possibility of those who bring wrong assumptions/beliefs on critical issues to our congregation and pulpit, the five leaders warned. In a complaint filed Thursday (July 15), five McLean members allege that Platt and other leaders illegally barred them from voting at a recent congregational meeting to approve new church leaders. A follow-up election held this past Sunday was held under new rules. He also warned against letting tensions swell. That language has no place whatsoever here. McLean stated in a Q&A on its website that Kelseys son held a poster that read, Black Lives Matter to God.. A series of controversies and the countrys growing political polarization have caused a rift at McLean Bible Church, where former International Mission Board president and author David Platt is pastor. Any church member on McLeans inactive list was given a provisional ballot. In response, Platt accused his critics in a sermon of spreading disinformation and stuffing the ballot box with votes from former members and inactive church members. Attendance began to decrease significantly after the first class as attendees realized the Woke content. And all three nominees got at least 78% on that day and were elected as elders. All active members were allowed to vote. A group of five former leaders at McLean including a former elder, former staff member and lay leadership warned David Platt in a letter dated February 3, 2021, about numerous moves by Platt and his elders to divide the church along racial lines. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Pastor David Platt of McLean Bible Church said many of those within his congregation were 'hurt' with his decision to pray for President Donald Trump on stage during Sunday's service. What Should We Think about Pastor Platt? SBC Voices Bob Smietana. CBN-backed candidate Mike Stone received 48 percent of the vote in last months SBC presidential election, finishing second to Alabama pastor Ed Litton. The church was rocked by controversy in 2019 when President Donald Trump stopped by the service for prayer . The church leadership was forced to embrace the Woke Social Justice rhetoric. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Thousands have fled the church since it was taken over by David Platt. 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. In a rant against causing division in the church, David Plattthe man responsible for dividing McLean Bible Church by teaching Critical Race Theoryclaimed a group of dissident conservatives were using disinformation to divide McLean Bible Church. Six people are part of the lawsuit, including both members and former members. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Last Updated: February 2023. Their pastor, David Platt, is very well-known among evangelicals. So they scheduled that vote for Sunday, July the 18. INSKEEP: This, according to your reporting, seems to have surfaced as a conflict in a way that wasn't directly about the pastor but a kind of church election. The July 18 vote has been surrounded by controversy, with some decrying what they saw as creeping liberalism within the church's . Church leaders and advocates in Illinois and beyond see this case as a chance for the 12-year-old denomination to establish better practices for preventing abuse and to care well for survivors. David Platt, the President of our International Mission Board, recently became the preaching pastor at the Mclean Bible Church, a megachurch in the DC area. We praise God for our church familys affirmation of new elders, and we would deeply appreciate your prayers for all of McLean Bible Church as we move forward in our mission.. Ministry partnerships: If you represent an organization which would like to partner with MBC, please fill out the International Partnerships Form or the Local Partnerships Form. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit echo Frazers concerns, saying that the ballots used by the church violated McLeans constitution. degree in chemistry (1971) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Th.M. However, Solomon cannot state his opinions publicly because of a separation agreement he signed with the church. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Platt plans to hold a called special business meeting to affirm the elders on July 18 during morning worship services, he told the church. And the elder vote was the occasion to speak that. Congregants dance and pray with the church band before Pastor Andy Wood gives a sermon on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. Stacie Wood, the woman pastor at the . Accuracy and availability may vary. Back at McLean, Platt and his fellow elders are urging the church in that direction. Which enabled a small group, just to put it in perspective, less than seven percent of our current membership on Wednesday night, including some people who we know are not actually members, less than seven percent kept elders from being overwhelmingly affirmed by our church family for the first time in our history.. Wait. The total was either just above or just below 75 percent, depending on whether provisional ballots were counted, so a second vote was held July 18, at which all three nominees received at least 78 percent of the vote. Platt was forced to defend himself in 2019, when then-President Donald Trump showed up on a Sunday morning at McLean Bible with little notice and asked Platt to pray for him. Reflections of a Former Senior Pastor | Lon Solomon Ministries Boyer said courts are often reluctant to get involved in church disputes. Platt lied about the extent that Critical Race Theory and the Black Lives Matter movement influences McLean Bible Church leadership. Every time this lawsuit has been filed or amended or refiled, it has resulted in a dismissal, he said. So those are some of the manifestations that show this is a larger discussion among evangelicals. Controversy at McLean Bible Church boils over as members file lawsuit over elder vote. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. 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. The bullseye of the controversy is pastor and best-selling author David Platt, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board. RELATED: David Platts dreams for McLean Bible Church sour as members file lawsuit over elder vote. The Local Church Wins Out in David Platt's Decision. In fact, in a sermon around the time of the November 2020 Presidential Election, Platt dared conservatives to leave the church over his welcoming of those supporting pro-abortion candidates, i.e. It never goes away on its own.. As if those sources of information are anywhere close to the authority of this Word.. Early life. McLean Bible Church is one of the most influential churches in the United States. It's little outside of Washington, D.C., in Virginia. 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. And then there was some question as to who is eligible to vote as a McLean member and who is not. Platt also accused the dissident group of being racist. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Something is wrong here,' he told Religion News Service in a 2013 interview. INSKEEP: Is that part of what seemed to get him in trouble with at least a portion of the congregation? In response, Platt has claimed that the church is trying to fight off a hostile takeover and that Satan is trying to divide the church. Read More FILE - Stacie Wood and her husband, Andy Wood, stand for a portrait on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. Stacie Wood, the woman pastor at the center of . Platt went on to call the church to give up everything for the glory of God, echoing the message of his 2010 book, Radical, a bestseller that called Christians to give up the American dream in order to serve Jesus and transform the world. Former President Trump even attended a service there once. It was an exercise in eisegesis (p. 121). He claimed people were upset by efforts at racial reconciliation. To some observers, McLeans conflict seems like a replay of other recent episodes from American evangelicalism, where leaders who appeal to Scripture to address social issues are accused of theological liberalism or secular influence even if they continue to hold traditional Christian views. The churchs constitution describes it as an independent church that shall not, and cannot, be affiliated with any denomination. But in 2016, under Solomon, the church began to give money to SBC church planting programs and it has donated about $100,000 a year as a cooperating church. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. What is going on at McLean Bible Church? (And the ongoing - Current According to Dr. Baucham in his book Fault Lines, David Platt, then head of the Southern Baptist Conventions International Mission Board, delivered a message from Amos 5, then repented in tears for his white privilege, silence, and inaction. Pastor insults President Trump? It gets much worse at McLean Bible Church Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. . In May 2021 following the Social Justice push and Platts book on politics, McLean Bible Church reported average attendance of about 7,300. There were not enough provisional ballots to change the outcome, according to an email from church leaders. The Capstone Report can reveal the photograph was only removed after repeated demands by members of the elder board. Dr. Voddie Baucham specifically highlighted David Platts 2018 sermon at the T4G Conference as Woke. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". However, this is a lie. She added that she is not familiar with the specific policies and procedures at McLean. (RNS) David Platt had a dream for the future of McLean Bible Church.

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