5 Congregants File Legal Complaint against David Platt, McLean Bible Church over Vote for Church Leaders

By admin On Jul 21, 2021

Critics say David Platt’s McLean Bible Church has become “woke” and is teaching critical race theory and social justice instead of biblical teaching.

In a legal complaint filed last week, five church members say Platt and other church leaders kept them from voting at a recent congregational meeting to approve new church leaders.

“This is a breach of contract action seeking to remedy Defendants’ illegal actions to deny Plaintiffs their rights to cast a free and fair vote, to have those votes lawfully counted, and to enjoy their right to a secret ballot,” the complaint says, according to Religion News Service.

According to the church constitution, elders must be approved by a three-quarters majority, but at a June 30 election, the vote failed to approve the church leaders.

Platt then said in his sermon following the election that some church members were purposefully trying to keep the men out of the leadership seats because of misinformation.

“I want you to listen closely to the words I am about to say,” he said in the sermon. “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.”

The church put forth new rules in a second election this month. In this election, church members were required to show identification and ballots were labeled with specific church members’ names. A church member marked “inactive” was given a provisional ballot.

According to the church, about 80 percent of active members approved the new elders. There were not enough provisional ballots to change the outcome.

The church’s constitution states that any member who misses eight consecutive weeks of service is designated as inactive.

Longtime member Bill Frazer says the rule doesn’t make sense in a COVID-19 world, where many active members participate in services online. He also added that the church has not regularly tracked individual attendance in years.

Platt, however, says Satan is trying to divide the church. The elders of the church also released a statement, saying, “Because of the nature of a lawsuit, unfortunately, we cannot provide any further comment at this time.

“We praise God for our church family’s affirmation of new elders, and we would deeply appreciate your prayers for all of McLean Bible Church as we move forward in our mission.”

Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.

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