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That church in the past has been called a hub for Republican senators and Bush aides. I think were going to work through this, he said. During a sermon on July 4, David Platt very intentionally addressed some of those concerns. This is pretty shocking, even if you have been reading our warnings (here, here, and here - to start) about the apparent in-coming embrace of LGBTQ+ among Southern Baptist Elites.Eric Saunders, Pastor of McLean Bible Church of Arlington, MD, has released a video in which he claims Jesus experienced a kind of body dysphoria like that experienced by transgender claimants. The church teachings were theologically conservative under its previous leadership, the legendary Lon Solomon. Services at Tennessee Megachurch Disrupted by Pastor Feud - The Roys Report Its first service was held on Easter Sunday at Chesterbook Elementary School in McLean with Pastor J. Albert Ford. 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. Platt has angered other members for maintaining the churchs reputed ties with the Southern Baptist Convention. Thats led to accusations that Platt and others have become woke and liberal. We're glad you're here! But a series of controversies and the countrys growing political polarization have turned Platts dream into a nightmare. Three new elders were approved by about 80% of active member votes. 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. 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. The constitution of the church requires a 75% threshold. [ This article is also available in Net Worth in 2023: $2 million. When longtime leaders and perhaps thousands of members are abandoning the church, what is the lesson David Platt draws? There were some who expressed the thought that David Platt and the other leaders were soft on issues like abortion and sexuality. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Platt mishandled the aftermath of the prayer. In fact, this book was required reading for Platts course. Some of the older guard think that that's soft-pedaling some biblical truth. 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. Save McLean Bible Church. The entire Sunday, July 4, 2021, sermon was filled with David Platts performative outrage. Also, there are close ties to the SBC since the NAMB . Christians must reclaim Jesus from his church. . It was then that David Platt was named Teaching Pastor. If youre the Red Cross, thats problematic. 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. At the congregational meeting on 12/9/20, David strongly disavowed Critical Race Theory. 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. Instead of defending President Trumps visit, Platt seemed to apologize for publicly praying with Donald Trump. Chuck Hannaford, a Memphis clinical psychologist who has helped churches mediate conflicts for 30 years, said McLeans troubles are the latest iteration of a broader conflict between younger Reformed Christians and older generations of white evangelicals. 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 suit is pending despite the announced vote outcome. He presently works as a pastor-teacher at McLean Bible Church. The church in question is a prominent one, McLean Bible Church, where many Washington Republicans worship. [Picture was posted on Facebook, but was removed after a couple months]. The weeks between the two votes were tumultuous. Once the first vote for the elders failed, Frazer believes that Platt and leaders should have stopped and listened to the congregations concerns. 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. Putting it off is only going to make it worse. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". A drop of 39%. 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. But David Platt has emphasized that everybody, regardless of their political views or their ethnicity or anything else, should be welcome to hear the gospel and be a part of the church. It is no secret that David Platt promotes Social Justice causes. Platts teaching in his McLean Bible Church Course The Gospel, The Church, Justice and Race (GCJR) highlights a Hegelian-inspired dialectical synthesis between Christianity and Woke Social Justice. David Platt and leaders of McLean Bible Church in public dispute with 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. Accuracy and availability may vary. Allegations that leaders were seeking to join the SBC in violation of the churchs constitution led McLean to suspend all contributions to SBC causes this month. (RNS) A yearlong legal battle over a contested election at a prominent Washington, D.C.-area church appears to be over for now. 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. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Location Arlington Archive - McLean Bible Church ROACH: Yes, that's exactly right. Any church member on McLeans inactive list was given a provisional ballot. McLean Bible Church faces a lawsuit over a recent vote for elders from members unhappy with pastor David Platt, who succeeded long-time former pastor Lon Solomon. 12,882 were here. The church has now grown to a weekly attendance over 27,000 (as of 2019). Dr. Voddie Baucham specifically highlighted David Platts 2018 sermon at the T4G Conference as Woke. Nope. He became a teaching pastor in 2017 and left the presidency of the SBCs International Mission Board to dedicate his ministry to McLean the following year. Copyright 2020, Religion News Service. Platts teaching explains that some people (no doubt an oppressed racial group) can better see sin than those people part of a larger group of people guilty of racism.. 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. She added that she is not familiar with the specific policies and procedures at McLean. Church doubles down on support for female pastors We want MBC to be a place where people with all kinds of convictions on matters of conscience can thrive, the Q&A stated. Bob Smietana. David Platt (pastor) - Wikipedia 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. Platt is now the pastor of McLean Bible Church, a flagship evangelical church in the Washington D.C. area. But its pastor says a group . ROACH: You can pick out churches across the country where there has been this conflict between people that are sort of an old guard type of evangelical and then a younger type of evangelical that wants to reach a broader, more diverse audience with the Gospel. We urge you to sign upto receive our FREE need to read articles. Current McLean leaders have denied that the church is a member of the SBC and posted a letter from the SBCs Executive Committee to support that claim. That comes with attendance issues and budget cuts. 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. They cited Platts use of Woke resources as further proofPlatt required for his course on Race books likeDivided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. There are other internal documents providing similar extensive theological arguments. Why does church leadership refuse to answer question. Get all latest content delivered to your email a few times a month. 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. Under the "woke" new pastor who succeeded the legendary Lon Solomon, however, it may soon not even rank as the biggest church in McLean. AD FREE! This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The Bible speaks of individual responsibility and personal motivation and the Bible speaks to unjust systems and discrimination. Are the culture wars changing how Christian students choose colleges? David Platt and McLean Bible Church Elders Sued After - ChurchLeaders Despite its elite membership, McLean has long been a conservative theological church populated by politically conservative evangelicals. Last Updated: February 2023. Just like the Democrats blame racists, so too David Platt. 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. 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. Because of the mass exodus McLean cut spending. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. We just want to give believers freedom to disagree on things that aren't essentials. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Greear and Texas megachurch pastor Matt Chandler, have been outspoken about racism and social justice issues, saying that the Bible teaches them to address those issues. June 27, 2022. Under founding pastor Lon Solomon, McLean launched a church planting partnership with the SBCs North American Mission Board in 2016 while remaining nondenominational. So they scheduled that vote for Sunday, July the 18. At that time, the vote was too close to confirm the new elders because the Church's constitution states it must have at least a 75-percent . The Local Church Wins Out in David Platt's Decision. COVID-19, Frazer said, has made that rule unenforceable. 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 . Platt, a bestselling author and speaker, recounted the churchs history in a sermon in the summer of 2019, about a year after he succeeded Solomon as pastor, in whichhe asked: What if our best days as a church are ahead of us, not behind us?. RELATED: At Founders event, Southern Baptists urged to choose the Bible over CRT. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit objected, saying anyone who joined the church after the June 2021 election should not be allowed to vote. 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. The document says that Platt says one thing about Critical Race Theory but clearly does another. This past spring, hoping to resolve the dispute, McLean leaders decided to discard the results of the July 2021 elder election. And then there was some question as to who is eligible to vote as a McLean member and who is not. Of course, not. Frazer said the confusion over McLeans relationship with the SBC and the election controversy reflect a bigger problem with the church. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. COVID-19 also played a role. Why is that? (RNS) A yearlong legal battle over a contested election at a prominent Washington, D.C.-area church appears to be over for now. It is unclear whether McLean Bible Church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention or an independent congregation. Opponents of McLeans current leadership wrote in a blog posted by the right-wing Capstone Report that Plattwho became pastor of the DC church full time in 2018was attempting to purge conservative members., Platt also described one email circulating that claimed MBC is no longer McLean Bible Church, that its now Melanin Bible Church., I know its so ugly and painful to even hear, but I want to point out the approach thats being used by people giving leadership to this group in these meetings, he told the congregation, calling the claims made about him and the incoming elders unquestionably untrue and in many cases completely unreasonable.. A series of controversies and the country's growing political polarization have caused a rift at McLean Bible Church, where former International Mission Board president and author David Platt is pastor. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Lon Solomon the legendary pastor of McLean Bible Church has not set foot in McLean for a worship service since becoming pastor emeritus. David Platt is an academic prodigy. Six people are part of the lawsuit, including both members and former members. They gave out some provisional ballots. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The conflict at McLean Bible Church is significant not only because of the congregations size and influencewith several thousand attendees and a prominent place in the DC church landscapebut also because the incident marks the latest salvo in an ongoing clash within American evangelicalism. He earlier served as the senior priest at the Brook Hills Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and got the recognition of being the youngest pastor of any megachurch in the US. Frazer also believes church leaders disqualified people who they thought would vote the wrong way. Since the ballots included church member names, he said, leaders would know how church staff and other members voted, opening them up to retaliation. And the church has not regularly tracked individual attendance for years, he added. Church leaders say the current round of conflict predates Platts pastorate. Former President Trump even attended a service there once. Almost all of the questions we have heard are less about Gods Word and more about what this blog or that Facebook post says, Platt said. He - I've heard him preach on abortion and religious liberty and traditional marriage. Platt came to McLean in 2017, while he was still president of the Southern Baptist Conventions International Mission Board. Sign up for our newsletter: Early life. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Originally, the church's . But he argued that Virginia law does require churches to follow rules outlined in their constitutions. 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. Also, Sadly, within evangelicalism, and the MBC pulpit, we see the following principle at work: the presence of preaching/teaching based on the wrong assumptions, resulting in wrong conclusions, thereby leading to the wrong solutions. McLean Bible which is seen as a conservative evangelical congregation and once had more than 16,000 attendees has long been an important church in Washington with four locations near the city. Church members are asked for their opinions on things like what color to paint the womens bathroom, he said; why not ask their opinion on more substantive matters such as CRT or joining the SBC? We have walked through tumultuous days over the last year in the world, surfacing many challenges in our lives, families, our country, the world, and the church, Platt told CT. We all need Gods grace to love one another well and to live for the spread of his love in a world that desperately needs what only he can give. Thus, McLean is spending about $4 million less in 2021 than in 2019. #302 Falls Church, VA 22042 866-788-7770 McLean Bible Church is one of the most influential churches in the United States. I hesitated to share it because I know it is so ugly and painful to hear but I want to point out the approach being used by people giving leadership to this group in these meetings.. Both moves raised questions for some members. Platt knows many McLean members including former church leaders opposed his teachings that appeared to be causing racial divisions by the promotion of Critical Race Theory.