Conservative members of McLean Bible Church rejected the “bad-faith offer” to resolve the case made by David Platt and the Board of Elders. The lawsuit involving McLean Bible Church’s over David Platt’s failure to abide by the church’s constitution is heading toward a May 27 hearing to set the parameters of discovery and depositions. It appears that David Platt and MBC leaders are desperate to avoid discovery. As we noted last week, What does David Platt and McLean Bible Church have to hide?
A statement released by the lawyers representing the dissident members of McLean Bible Church said much the same thing.
“The proposal from the Board of Elders fails to be even a pretense of a good-faith offer to resolve the case,” according to the statement. “It is instead a continuation of the Board of Elders’ determination to avoid transparency and accountability at all costs.”
Moreover, lawyers claim that MBC and David Platt are filing frivolous motions to delay the legal process.
“Defendant is also threatening to file a frivolous motion seeking to ‘stay’ litigation that has already been underway for nearly a year, and in which the Board has still failed to respond to any discovery requests,” the lawyer’s statement said. “This is simply an attempt to drag out and delay the transparent accounting and uncoerced vote that MBC members deserve.”
There is much more in the statement released to the press by Rick Boyer, the lawyer representing McLean Bible Church conservative., and we reproduce the entire statement below.
Plaintiffs’ Statement re: Bad-Faith Proposal to Stay Discovery in McLean Bible Church litigation
FAIRFAX, Virginia–The proposal from the Board of Elders fails to be even a pretense of a good-faith offer to resolve the case. Plaintiffs treat it accordingly. It is instead a continuation of the Board of Elders’ determination to avoid transparency and accountability at all costs. The Board should have offered from the outset to simply declare the rigged election invalid and immediately vote again, with secret ballots and full rights of discussion, open to all members as of June 2021 who could not be proven to have missed eight consecutive meetings, as the MBC Constitution requires.
Rather than offer to do the right thing and actually redo the election properly, among the members properly active in June, 2021, the Board has twice essentially stuffed the ballot boxes, adding hundreds of new members selected by the Board in December after litigation began, and proposing to add hundreds of new members selected by the Board in May, just before the proposed new vote. All these hundreds of members who were unknown to MBC last July, would now be allowed to dilute the votes of people who were properly members last July. It is a complete bait-and-switch. If the Elders cannot win through destroying the secret ballot, they will win by stuffing the ballot boxes just before the vote.
The Board understands that failure to win last year’s vote would have required a “no confidence” vote on the entire Board of Elders, and that failure to win that vote would allow the Church to select an entirely new Board of Elders – this time selected by the congregation, and not by the Board. And they will stop at nothing to forestall that outcome. The Board’s entire process has been about power and control, not the service of Jesus Christ or the rights of the members of MBC under its constitution. The proposed “resolution” is a mirror of the rigged vote last July, yet another rigged game with the outcome predetermined by the Board. It in no way resembles the free, transparent vote of all active members as of June, 2021, that the Plaintiffs seek from the Court.
Defendant is also threatening to file a frivolous motion seeking to “stay” litigation that has already been underway for nearly a year, and in which the Board has still failed to respond to any discovery requests. This is simply an attempt to drag out and delay the transparent accounting and uncoerced vote that MBC members deserve. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed.” John 3:20 (NASB).
The Board’s amusing claim that “these matters should not be handled in a secular court of law,” is belied by the Board’s threats to use criminal trespassing charges, in secular courts, against anyone who voiced disagreement before the July vote. Its hollow claim that it seeks “peaceful restoration” is belied by its coordinated attempts for over a year now to arbitrarily remove members who it suspected would vote the “wrong” way on its handpicked candidates, and its repeated refusals to listen to in-person appeals, until at last Plaintiffs were forced to seek court assistance in preserving the rights of members under the MBC Constitution. Their empty words are far too late; the horse is out of the barn. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. … So then, you will know them by their fruits.” Matt. 7:18, 20 (NASB).
Plaintiffs are prayerfully moving ahead to the May 27 hearing to determine the terms for a protective order to govern the discovery process. Our goal remains the same, defense of the voting rights of MBC members under the church constitution – full transparency and an uncoerced secret ballot for all the members, and only the members, who the Board denied that right last July. “But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God.” II Cor. 4:2 (NASB).