Critics say the Virginia churchs leadership has become woke and has substituted critical race theory and social justice for biblical teaching. After new elder nominees failed to be elected for the first time in the churchs history, Platt told the congregation in a sermon in early July that a small group of people inside and outside this church coordinated a divisive effort to use disinformation in order to persuade others to vote these men down as part of a broader effort to take control of this church.. 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. That comes with attendance issues and budget cuts. CBN-backed candidate Mike Stone received 48 percent of the vote in last months SBC presidential election, finishing second to Alabama pastor Ed Litton. 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. He told Religion News Service that the church believes it will prevail if there is an appeal. Platt later posted a letter on the churchs website, since removed, and on social media, saying that his decision to pray for the president had angered some church members. I think were going to work through this, he said. According to former members and staff, these former elders have left MBC for what reasons, no one will say: Jim Battle, Mark Gotlieb, Craig Proulx, Jimmy Mitchell, John Baber, and Lon Solomon. It is no secret that David Platt promotes Social Justice causes. Platt was presented with multiple documents from many respected past and present McLean Bible Church members over the last two years that connected concerns about racial identity politics with proper biblical application. The heart of the complaint really comes down to truth, transparency, and a free, open, and uncoerced process, plaintiffs attorney Rick Boyer told RNS. 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. We want MBC to be a place where people with all kinds of convictions on matters of conscience can thrive, the Q&A stated. Of course, not. If people were motivated to drive from Maine and Florida to McLean Bible Church in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., to vote against David Platts Woke agenda, maybe the problem is not with the dissidents but with David Platt? 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. 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. CRN offers a lifeline to conservative people of faith. But a spokesman for the SBC, while saying McLean Bible Church, like all Southern Baptist churches, is an independent and autonomous local church, confirmed that McLean is considered an SBC church. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It took repeated requests from a few conservative Elders to take down Facebook photos of staff holding BLM signs. Because of the mass exodus McLean cut spending. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. He also wrote an article equating support for President Trump and support for BLM as equally acceptable for a Christian.. The stated purpose of the church is "that people far from God will be raised to life in Christ . Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our. 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. David Roach is a reporter and pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Saraland, Alabama. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. A password reset link will be e-mailed to you. Bob Smietana. 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. But a spokesman for the SBC, while saying "McLean Bible Church, like all Southern Baptist churches, is an independent and autonomous local church," confirmed that McLean is considered an SBC church. So, in May 2020 just before Platts hard social justice push, McLean Bible Church reported attendance averaged 12,154. Rick Boyer, attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said his clients plan to appeal. Similar to Naples, McLean Bible Church recently held a vote to confirm three elders the first vote failed. Strange events are afoot at McLean Bible Church, a multisite megachurch in Washington D.C. pastored by David Platt. People who were actively serving at other churches.. Platt, the senior pastor of McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia, is now caught in the middle of a scandal that is reminiscent of events that took place in 2019 at a large Southern Baptist Church in Naples, FL. It is unclear whether McLean Bible Church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention or an independent congregation. While Platt raised concerns that the opposing group deceived members at the Tysons location into voting against the new elders, a lawsuit filed July 15 alleges that church leaders at McLean illegally barred some of their opponents from voting in the follow-up elder election. Platt plans to hold a called special business meeting to affirm the elders on July 18 during morning worship services, he told the church. SBC Elites cite distinguished lawyer and Southern Baptist Matthew Martens; however, Martens has written persuasively, Supporters of a constitutional amendment to ban women pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), New intel points to Covid origin in a lab leak, remember when this was a, NAMB PR VP Mike Ebert emerges as key witness in McRaney v. NAMB What will, David Platt explodes at McLean Bible Church, plays the race card, the man responsible for dividing McLean Bible Church by teaching Critical Race Theory, It couldnt be that David Platts Woke rhetoric has driven about 40% of church members to attend church in other non-Woke evangelical churches in that part of Virginia, Ed Litton Plagiarism Scandal: A Sermongate Timeline, Baptist professor strongly suspects former SBC President J.D. July 20, 2021. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The letter describes McLean as a partner with the SBC but not affiliated denominationally with the SBC.. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. COVID-19, Frazer said, has made that rule unenforceable. Some say it is now a running joke that McLean refugees are showing up in other area churches looking for the truth and the Gospel instead of racial identity politics. Platts 2020 book Before You Vote also drew criticism from some church members as being soft on traditional evangelical issues like abortion and sexuality. David Platt, pastor at McLean Bible Church in Virginia, speaks at the Pastor's Conference at the Southern Baptist Convention on Monday in Birmingham. Life of Christ dramatization The Thorn comes to big screens March 67, New book outlines importance of every Christian knowing theology, Southcrest Baptist in Bessemer hosting Holy Destiny on March 3, Start a new subscription at the group rate. They gave out some provisional ballots. I don't think that it was about the specific elders so much as the direction of the church. 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. It is a mega church in the DC area with 5 locations and claims an attendance of 13,000 each weekend. No current McLean elders signed the document. However, the church continues to promote and use secular sociology books that promote CRT. While the church building was locked down and most of its ministries ceased amid Covid-19 fears, David Platt turned a blind eye to his staff marching in a Black Lives Matter (BLM) event in Washington, DC. A beloved Bible teacher and speaker, Platt inspired younger Christians to pursue missions work or other ministries. espaol. ROACH: I don't think that that is directly the issue, but I think that issue has implications for what has gotten him in trouble. 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 . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Originally, the church's . Until a chance encounter with my moms old Bible opened my eyes. ROACH: Thank you, Steve. But its pastor says a group . And the candidate backed by the Conservative Baptist Network at the most recent SBC annual meeting got 48% percent of the vote. Why does church leadership refuse to answer question. Under Solomon, the congregation had been known as a holy destination for GOP senators and Bush aides. Tensions ramped up the past two years amid political turmoil in the DC area and nationwide. Platts silent embrace of the radical Black Lives Matter movement and the promotion of Kelsey along with Social Justice Bible studies including Platts own book legitimizing Christians who vote for Pro-Abortion Democrats, conservatives are leaving the church for new homes. In a sobering, emotional and occasionally shocking address from the pulpit on July 4, Platt alleged a conspiratorial attempt on behalf of a "small group" of church members to sow misinformation among the congregation with the goal of taking control of the church. One former McLean Bible Church member pointed out that Platts preaching is mostly informed by sociological approaches to race through works that Platt read and promoted like Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. He is pastor of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Saraland, Ala., and he also writes for Christianity Today, which is how he came to report on McLean Bible Church. The podcast is two hours on the use of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality at the MLK50 Conference and the T4G Conference sermon by David Platt. 13-minute video summary, pastor Kelsey talking about "torching all white people" 51-minute detailed presentation, The sacred duty, and the money trail of . In that election, the elders were approved, which led dissident members to file a suit. In fact, Platt's sloppy moral reasoning was one point of controversy in a letter to leadership from five long-standing members of . Because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., many government officials, Capitol Hill staffers, and thought leaders are members. The church leadership was forced to embrace the Woke Social Justice rhetoric. Lon Solomon made one statement in opposition to the Social Justice heresy. We recognize the need to examine each of our hearts humbly and continually with the help of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement of brothers and sisters who enable us to see sin in us and sins effects around us in ways that we might not see ourselves., Notice the racial Gnosticism contained within this paragraph. 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. Copyright 2020, Religion News Service. Under founding pastor Lon Solomon, McLean launched a church planting partnership with the SBCs North American Mission Board in 2016 while remaining nondenominational. : Democrats. McLean Bible Church is one of the largest and most influential churches in the nation. (Reformation Charlotte) A sad sight to behold is the trajectory that David Platt has been on over the last several years as the Evangelical racial reconciliation movement a movement rooted in Marxist Critical Race Theory has consumed him in nearly every aspect of thought and decision. Many former elders have left McLean Bible Church since David Platts takeover of the church. 12,882 were here. By. Six people are part of the lawsuit, including both members and former members. (The Roys Report) McLean Bible Church, the multisite megachurch in McLean, Virginia near Washington, D.C. where David Platt pastors, confirmed three new elders Sunday in a revote where members labeled their ballots with their names. Wait. The Saturday evening service fills one of the smaller sanctuaries at McLean Bible Church's new $90 million complex, which officially opens this weekend on 52 acres near Tysons Corner.At a Sunday . NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to journalist and pastor David Roach about an ideological rift at a Washington, D.C.-area church that highlights similar divisions in evangelical groups across the U.S. We have a story now of divisions within a single church that suggest wider divisions in many churches. Some of you may remember him as the guy Jerry Falwell Jr. told to "grow a pair." Platt is now in the middle of a controversy over "wokeness" at the church. RELATED: David Platts dreams for McLean Bible Church sour as members file lawsuit over elder vote.