David Platt Controversy: David Platt’s Lawsuit Against Mc Lean Bible Church Is Dismissed!
After a year of litigation, the outcome of a contentious election at a renowned church in the Washington, D.C. region appeared to have been settled.
A lawsuit brought by McLean Bible Church dissidents on Friday to reverse the results of an election for church leaders (elders) was dismissed by a court in Fairfax County, Virginia.
These dissenters claimed that best-selling author and senior pastor David Platt had broken the church’s constitution.
Platt said in a statement on Monday, “I know that many churches throughout America have encountered and are facing similar issues during these days, and it is very necessary that we transcend beyond the divide and live out John 13:35, exhibiting love for one another and compassion for a world in need of Jesus.”
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Rick Boyer, has stated his clients intend to appeal the ruling.
A failed election on June 30, 2021, was at the heart of the disagreement at McLean. A majority vote of the congregation was needed to confirm new elders, and this was the first time in McLean that hadn’t happened.
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When the election took place, tensions were already high in the church due to the permeation of cultural political division into the congregation, a microcosm of the greater “woke war” in the evangelical community.
Concerned members of “Save McLean Bible Church” stated on Facebook that the church’s leadership had abandoned biblical teaching in favor of critical race theory and social justice. Some members of the congregation suspected that David Platt and the other leaders were plotting to sell the church building to a Muslim group so that it might be converted into a mosque.
In addition, Covid-19 had an impact. Members of the church who participated virtually instead of in person complained that their votes were invalidated.
A second election was held in early July 2021 after the previous one was declared invalid; this time, members were required to sign their ballots, which some argued went against church policy about the use of secret ballots. Members who disagreed with the election’s results filed a lawsuit with the elders’ approval.
In an effort to end the conflict, McLean’s top officials decided this past spring to nullify the outcome of the July 2021 vote. In the middle of June of 2022, they arranged a fresh vote for elders, this time with secret ballots. Voting rights were extended to all current participants.
Legal challengers argued that new members of the church after the June 2021 election should be denied voting rights.
With at least 86% of the vote, all six elders were accepted.
McLean pastor Wade Burnett said the church body made the decision to press on as one in the face of adversity.
When asked by Religion News Service, he said the church is certain it would win on appeal.
“This litigation has been dismissed every time it has been brought, modified, or refiled,” he stated. Our church has voted and revoted in ways that are clearly obvious, and we expect the same result on appeal. As a group, we’re eager to go forward, and we don’t think an appeal court should stand in our way.
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