For his part, Platt, speaking to his congregation, described an email that was circulated claiming, вЂњMBC is no longer McLean Bible Church, that itвЂ™s now Melanin Bible Church.вЂќ

Platt, who is theologically conservative, had been accused in the months before the vote by a small but zealous group within his church of вЂњwokenessвЂќ and being вЂњ left of center,вЂќ of pushing a вЂњsocial justiceвЂќ agenda and promoting critical race theory, and of attempting to вЂњpurge conservative members.вЂќ A Facebook page and a right-wing website have targeted Platt and his leadership. Members of the church filed a lawsuit, claiming that the conduct of the election violated the churchвЂ™s constitution.

In a second vote on July 18, all three nominees cleared the threshold. Platt said church members had been misled, having been told, among other things, that the three individuals nominated to be elders would advocate selling the church building to Muslims, who would convert it into a mosque. вЂњA small group of people, inside and outside this church, coordinated a divisive effort to use disinformation in order to persuade others to vote these men down as part of a broader effort to take control of this church,вЂќ David Platt, a 43-year-old minister at McLean Bible Church and a best-selling author, charged in a July 4 sermon. A trio of elders didnвЂ™t receive 75 percent of the vote, the threshold necessary to be installed. But this summer, at an influential megachurch in Northern Virginia, something went badly wrong. T he election of the elders of an evangelical church is usually an uncontroversial, even unifying event.

Jesus and john wayne npr