A year-long battle within McLean Bible Church, a multisite congregation located in the Washington, D.C. area, over a disputed elder election appears to have come to an end. On Friday, a lawsuit against the church, which is pastored by David Platt, was dismissed with prejudice.
The lawsuit revolved around the accusation of some members of McLean Bible Church that Platt and other church leaders had violated the church’s constitution in the way they conducted the election of new elders in June 2021.
The church requires that new elder selections receive a 75% vote of affirmation. In 2021, for the first time in the church’s six decade history, the elder selections were not confirmed by the congregation’s vote.
Following the vote, Platt addressed a whisper campaign a small group of church members had launched against him and other church leaders. The heart of the dispute was the concern of some members that Platt’s becoming the church’s lead pastor in 2017 represented a liberal drift within the church, as Platt has been a vocal proponent of racial justice.
RELATED: David Platt and McLean Bible Church Elders Sued After Recent Elder Vote Exposes Major Problems
A Facebook page called “Save McLean Bible Church” launched in June 2021, serving as an online forum for disgruntled members and former members to air their grievances with the church’s leadership.
In a sermon on June 30, 2021, Platt told the church that this group of dissident members was spreading misinformation about him, including the lie that he intended to sell the church’s building to a Muslim group so that it could be converted into a mosque.
Platt further argued that based on this disinformation, the small group of members had rallied inactive members of the church to be present at the church’s business meeting in order to vote down elder selections.
A subsequent vote was held with new elder selections, and McLean Bible Church leadership took measures to ensure that only active members voted. The new elder selections were confirmed.
What constituted an “active member” was in dispute following the vote, as the church’s constitution had defined membership by regular attendance, and the pandemic had disrupted in-person gatherings. This dispute led to five church members suing Platt and the church.
RELATED: David Platt on the Problems With Saying ‘You Can’t Be a Christian and Vote For…’
In June of this year, McLean held a revote for the 2021 elder selections in response to the lawsuit, appointing a neutral party to oversee the vote’s casting and counting. That vote was completed without incident, and the elders were confirmed.
