Free Republic

In July 2021, McLean Bible Church (MBC) in Vienna, Va., which is pastored by David Platt, was sued by five of its members (current and former) for allegedly barring them on illegal grounds in June of 2021 from voting in an important congregational meeting to approve new church leaders. MBC’s constitution says that elders must be approved by a three-quarters majority, but on June 30, 2021, the vote failed for the first time in the church’s history. Platt accused some MBC members of organizing a planned effort to thwart the election in a Sunday sermon, saying that a small group...

(RNS) — David Platt had a dream for the future of McLean Bible Church. The largely conservative northern Virginia church across the Potomac from Washington had grown from a group of five families in the 1960s to a congregation of more than 10,000 spread across several campuses, attracting politicians and business leaders to the church’s evangelical message and values. Much of that growth had happened under former pastor Lon Solomon, a Jewish convert known for his Bible preaching, zeal for evangelism and passion for serving children with special needs. Platt, a bestselling author and speaker, recounted the church’s history in...

On Wednesday night, Pastor David Platt of McLean Bible Church hosted a simulcast called Something Needs to Change, part of an ongoing initiative from The Gospel Coalition. In the simulcast, Platt, an author and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, shared an interview with a missionary named Yazim. “He lives and works in a part of the Middle East where, not only is it illegal to share the Gospel, it’s life-threatening to talk about how the Gospel is advancing,” Platt shared. In the simulcast Yazim, a Middle East church planter shared with Platt and the listeners...

The Northern Virginia pastor who prayed for President Trump on stage after an unscheduled visit Sunday explained why he did so, acknowledging "some within our church...are hurt that I made this decision." David Platt, McLean Bible Church pastor, told his congregation, in a statement, that his "aim was in no way to endorse the president, his policies, or his party, but to obey God’s command to pray for our president and other leaders" as mentioned in the Bible. While the megachurch was not one of the churches that joined Rev. Franklin Graham's "Special Day of Prayer" for Trump, Platt acknowledged...