Press & Publications: Non-denominational No More: How SBC Elites Hijacked McLean Bible, Laundered Its Tithes, and Hurt the Church

The Executive Director for the Center for Baptist Leadership (CBL), William Wolfe, reached out to us for an article regarding the SBC's involvement in the hijacking of Mclean Bible Church. While MBC elders continue to be derelict in their duties, others have not and the call for transparency and accountability has extended across denominational lines. The article is based on discovery documents received during litigation and exposes those who facilitated the denominational bait and switch to secure David Platt as the Senior Pastor of MBC. To date, it has garnered thousands of views since it was published on May 20, 2025. (CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE )

A Plea to Southern Baptists to Demand Financial Transparency and Real Accountability In the SBC

Editor’s Note: Last fall, thousands of Christians watched the shocking two-part documentary The Real David Platt, produced by the Church Reform Initiative. The documentary tells a heartbreaking story of corruption, conspiracies, wokeness, and an abuse of power that marred Lon Solomon’s legacy at McLean Bible (MBC) and divided the church.

As a Southern Baptist, I was scandalized to learn that Convention elites had aided Platt and his cadre of insiders at MBC in a duplicitous effort to force a constitutionally non-denominational church into cooperation and affiliation with the SBC. Why? To raid their coffers for “church planting” in the D.C. area and ensure that Platt could remain at the upper echelons of SBC life, even as he stepped away from the IMB. As I’ve said before, the documents, depositions, and interviews reveal what amounts to a “money laundering scheme” being run behind the backs of the good Christians and members of MBC. And SBC insiders are right at the center of it.

The sad saga reminds me of Nathan’s rebuke to David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, Uriah (2 Samuel 12:1-13). The SBC has tens of thousands of cooperating and giving churches. Why did Platt and his enablers need to steal and slaughter this one non-denominational sheep?

As the SBC prepares to vote on financial transparency in Dallas at our 2025 Annual Meeting, I believe this story underscores just how crucial increased transparency and accountability are in the SBC right now. So, I asked the Church Reform Initiative to write a summary of the SBC-specific portions of the documentary, with relevant documentation attached.

What follows is the fruit of their labors, done in love out of a genuine desire for the purity of the church and the good of Southern Baptists.

Please read this in full and review the documentation (all of which has previously been made public and is already available on the CRI’s website). It proves that Platt and his enablers brought MBC into the SBC behind the congregations’ backs, sent millions of MBC tithe dollars to the SBC without a single congregational vote, and then lied about it to the church. Then, share this with other Southern Baptists, visit Pastor Rhett Burn’s financial transparency website, sbctransparency.net, and come to Dallas ready to take action.

William Wolfe, Executive Director, Center for Baptist Leadership

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE… https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/autonomous-no-more-how-sbc-insiders-hijacked-mclean-bible-raided-its-finances-and-split-the-church/