Victory: Virginia Court of Appeals orders partial reversal of dismissal; Remands Gaskins v. McLean Bible Church to Fairfax County Circuit Court for further proceedings
The court case alleging David Platt and McLean Bible Church rigged an elder election in a desperate bid to retain power is back on after a Virginia Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s dismissal of the case. The Appeals court gave plaintiffs fighting against Platt’s autocratic actions such as the elimination of secret ballot another chance to make their case after a lower court erred in dismissing the case as moot.
“We are grateful to God that the case is moving forward. All the members of McLean Bible Church deserve to have a voice, and we will defend that voice at trial,” said Plaintiff Steve Gaskins.
“We are committed to defending truth, transparency, and honest leadership elections at McLean Bible Church,” Plaintiff Roland Smith said. “The efforts of the Board to deny the voice of the membership have been stymied again. We look forward to a trial to defend the rights of our fellow church members against dishonest self-appointed leaders.”
Rick Boyer of Integrity Law Firm, attorney for the Plaintiffs, said, “We are gratified that the Court of Appeals saw through the Board’s argument that because the damage is already done, the case is moot and the members of McLean Bible Church have no rights the courts can protect. This is the third time the Board has tried to get this case thrown out, and they have failed three times. We are moving forward to prepare for trial, where we will defend the rights of McLean’s members under their constitution to have a voice in their church’s decision-making.”
Here is the order from the Virginia Appeals Court: