A letter sent by a 25-year member of McLean Bible Church to Pastor David Platt and other MBC leaders rebuked Platt for gaslighting the congregation.

In a letter emailed to David Platt and top MBC leadership last week, a longtime member of the McLean Bible Church rebuked Platt for lies, bullying and subterfuge. The letter vividly highlights the problems of autocratic church leaders like David Platt and his enablers at McLean Bible Church. Here is the letter presented below:

Dear David,

I am writing this victim impact statement to you because you are Lead Pastor of McLean Bible Church.

Typically, a victim impact statement allows the person affected by a crime to address the court during the sentencing process. Written from the victim’s point of view, it facilitates their own emotional recovery from the direct trauma suffered by them and/or their loved ones. Although we are not in that sentencing process, I want to be sure you understand the crime of emotional trauma you have committed against me personally through the hijacking of McLean Bible Church. I speak only for myself; not for anyone else associated with the church either in the past or present.

I am not merely a name on the MBC membership rolls. I am more than a unique identifier on one of your open ballots. Even though you may know my name or recognize me by sight, you don’t know me. I am a real, living person. A solid believer who gets righteously angry, who hurts, who cries, and thankfully a person who drops to her knees through it all.

I accepted the Lord at MBC in 1996 and became a member in 1997. My husband became a believer here also. So did my mother. I raised my children at MBC. Everything that has happened at my beloved church home has affected me deeply. Sunday was always my happiest day of the week. I served in more ministries than I can remember. I was on staff twice. I served with joy and with pride of association with such a sound church. No longer. The joy that I felt through MBC has evaporated and been replaced by righteous anger, trepidation, and vast sorrow. This has all been caused by YOU, in addition to the elders. I hold each of you responsible for the mental and emotional trauma from which I must work to recover. However, as Lead Pastor you bear the greatest responsibility.

I was married to an abusive man for almost 14 years. I know what abuse looks like. I know what abuse feels like and sounds like. And I have suffered abuse under your leadership at McLean Bible. Abuse is seemingly endless lies. It is subterfuge. Broken promises. Veiled threats. Bullying. Unfaithfulness. It is being given the hand. It is spin. I can provide examples of all of these but if you’re honest with yourself, you already know them.

The worst of all the abuses is the spark of hope that lights, even if for just a moment; the hope that maybe something just might get better. I felt it in my marriage; and for a long time, I felt it at MBC. It was the feeling that maybe I had misunderstood, maybe things were not completely hopeless. It is the feeling that if I could just do the right thing, say the right thing, ask the appropriate question or write the appropriate letter I could “fix” it. But that tiny spark of hope was a candle that was repeatedly lit and then in turn repeatedly snuffed out. With that, one learns not to trust. Just as I learned not to trust in my marriage. I trust in the Lord, but I do not trust you or your leadership.

After Jesus and my home, MBC is supposed to be my “safe” place. It is no longer. You have stolen that from me through your lies, gaslighting, and subterfuge. And I will not get that safety back through your so-called leadership. Yours is leadership that is selfish, self-serving, and superficial. It is leadership that does not serve God or the flock.

It feels like you came as a thief in the night, bent on destruction. But you have not succeeded. You have been derelict in your duties AND YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF as should the rest of the elders. And you will have to answer for all of this, but not to me. You will all have to answer to the Lord. And for clarity this is not a resignation of my MBC membership. The Lord is holding that candle of hope for me for now.

You are likely surprised –I do not write this in anger. I write in tears for what I have lost. It is a pain that is palpable. I pray daily for all of you – for repentance and restoration to the Lord and the family of God. May He have mercy on you.

CH

25-year McLean Bible Church Member