“WE ARE NOT A MEMBER OF THE SBC”: THE GREAT DECEPTION
THE SBC, SBCV AFFILIATIONS
AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATION
September 2023: Jeremiah Burke, et al v. McLean Bible Church - Litigation Findings
The formal governing document for McLean Bible Church includes three immutable clauses under Article III, Section 1. With respect to the breach of contract in the Jeremiah Burke, et al v. McLean Bible Church lawsuit, the plaintiffs cited one of these immutable clauses, Article 2, Affiliation which states that “This church shall not, and cannot be affiliated with any denomination…”, was breached when the elders agreed to affiliate with the SBC. At the conclusion of the discovery and deposition process, the plaintiffs’ attorney determined that “In effect, an affiliation was formed with the SBC, and it was much more comprehensive than first believed.” In addition to the terms detailed below, MBC’s $2M financial commitment allowed them to obtain their own SBC ID number ”making them eligible to send delegates to the SBC Annual Meeting to vote on binding SBC policies”.
April 2016: The National Affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)
Documents provided by MBC during discovery show that in April 2016, the elders formally requested affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). During litigation, Mclean was only able to produce an unsigned and undated letter, however, other exchanges point to April 2016 as the date that the Chairman of the Elder Board, Larry Cooper, sent the formal request to the SBC Executive Committee to “more effectively plant churches and send missionaries around the world”. With that, the elders affirmed that McLean was in doctrinal harmony with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (the SBC’s statement of faith), confirmed support of SBC missions and ministries, committed to complete an annual church profile for reporting purposes and support SBC church planting and missions through partnerships with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the International Mission Board (IMB). McLean elders also promised a financial commitment through contributions during the length of the partnership. It is important to note that the elders also explicitly stated in this letter their desire to not commit to a formal partnership with a State Baptist Convention or a local association in their area.
August 2017: The State Affiliation with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV)
Despite the elders’ position of limiting the affiliation to the national convention, in August of 2017, MBC’s Executive Pastor, Dale Sutherland and MBC’s Director of Operations, Bill Steele, signed a formal partnership application with the SBC of Virginia (SBCV), a State Baptist Convention. (MBC was unable to produce this particular document for some reason and it had to be provided by the SBCV through a court subpoena). Through this application, Dale Sutherland and Bill Steele obligated MBC to the following terms: [See also Article V of the SBCV Bylaws.]
● Full agreement with the purpose and doctrinal position of the SBCV
● Actively cooperate with the work of this body and the Southern Baptist Convention through financial support
● Be involved and supportive of the direction of the convention
● Endeavor to maintain a positive Christian witness and involve themselves in the operation and success of the Convention
● Participate through time investments and financial contributions given regularly as Cooperative Program Support through the SBCV
● Should the cooperating church fail to maintain a positive Christian witness or fail to support the Cooperative Program financially through the SBCV for one year, the Executive Board would seek to restore the church or recommend that the church’s Affiliation be rescinded
Was this new affiliation approved by the elders? Dale Sutherland and Bill Steele stated in the application that MBC elder approval was received on March 23, 2016. However, this conflicts with the elders’ own statement in their April 2016 letter to the SBC Executive Committee. Why would Dale and Bill form a partnership that the elders declined a little more than a year before? Answers will start to come to light as we explore more.
