David Platt’s McLean Bible is referring its members and attenders to a Bible study at Mark Mullery’s Redeeming Grace Church. Formerly known as Sovereign Grace Fairfax this is a church that is considered a cult within Fairfax and is known for the problem and history of allegedly covering up child sex abuse. The writer of this blog recalls when McLean Bible considered Sovereign Grace Ministries to be a cult and asks the question, does David Platt understand the issue of child sex abuse?
“The key to wisdom is this – constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth.”
Peter Abelard
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
Albert Einstein
For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[b] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:30-31 NIV
McLean Bible
The Wondering Eagle acquired a number of documents and material to study from McLean Bible. The other day I came across something that was deeply troubling and indicates as to how much McLean Bible has been theologically hijacked. Let’s look at a disturbing connection and talk about the issue of child sex abuse as well.
A post abortion Bible study at a church notorious for child sex abuse cover-up.
Encouraging Members to Attend a Post-Abortion Bible Study at Redeeming Grace Church as Led by Vince Hinders
Up above you see a picture from McLean Bible’s Ministry Directory from the Tysons Campus. The directory is for the month of September of 2019. On page six in the bottom left hand corner I saw something that was deeply distressing. It was an announcement for a post abortion Bible study that is starting at Redeeming Grace Church in Fairfax, Virginia. The Bible study is being led by Dr. Chung Woo and Vince Hinders. This event at Redeeming Grace Church appears to be long term and re-occurring. You can see an advertisement for it in 2018 at Redeeming Grace’s website. The event is starting on October 1, 2019. To my knowledge this is the first time that McLean Bible is encouraging its people to get involved in an event at Redeeming Grace Church.
When McLean Bible Considered Sovereign Grace a Cult
When I was involved at McLean Bible from 2006 until about 2009, C.J. Mahaney’s Sovereign Grace Ministries was viewed as a cult. It was a hushed thing as no one really wanted to say it out loud. In the bookstore if I remember correctly they really didn’t sell materials from Sovereign Grace. In Todd Philips Frontline there were young professionals who came down from Maryland who told me how Covenant Life Church was viewed as both a cult and too fundamentalist. The issues in Sovereign Grace Fairfax were pretty established. One of the things I learned is that in Fairfax Mark Mullery’s church developed the reputation of being “the cult around the corner.” So under the leadership of Lon Solomon you would not have seen an event from a Sovereign Grace church being pushed. This blog looked at the culture and issues at Sovereign Grace Fairfax in a couple of different ways. For example I consider the culture of Sovereign Grace Fairfax and Redeemer Arlington which figures into my spiritual abuse story. You can read about that in, “How Healthy is Redeemer Arlington’s Culture? What About Other Former Sovereign Grace Ministries Churches? Should You Get Involved?” Then there was the story of Chinese student Xiao Wong from George Mason University. He got involved in Redeeming Grace Fairfax and gave his testimony. This blog asked the question, when a foreign student gets involved in a church like Redeeming Grace Fairfax which is known for child sex abuse cover-up, do places like that validate what the Chinese Community Party says about religion being corrupt? Something for Mark Mullery, Vince Hinders and David Platt to consider. You can read more in, “Does Mark Mullery’s Redeeming Grace Church Fairfax Confirm What the Chinese Communist Party Says About Religion Contributing to Corruption?“
Recalling Some of the Sex Abuse Allegations at Redeeming Grace Church
Sovereign Grace Fairfax had some deeply disturbing child sex abuse issues and it has always hung over the church. The Washingtonian wrote about the issues in Sovereign Grace and even spent some time talking about the issues at Fairfax. You can read about that here. Many of the stories regarding Sovereign Grace are documented and preserved at the blog SGM Survivors. Some of the stories told about Sovereign Grace Fairfax were deeply disturbing. You had the stories of Happymom and Wallice, Noel and Grizzley, Set Free and Taylor. You can read the stories in detail in, “What Matt Larson, Anthem Thousand Oaks, Anthem Ventura, and Anthem Camarillo can Learn from Taylor, Noel and Sovereign Grace Fairfax/SGM “Family of Churches”In many cases families and relationships were divided or destroyed. In others the corruption and sickness of the leadership of Fairfax was beyond perverse. For example in the case of Noel a 15 year old who sexually abused her 3 year old was claimed to be repentant because he read John Owen’s “The Mortification of Sin.” One Sovereign Grace Fairfax pastor’s wife implied that child molestation was good by saying that suffering causes us to shrink from sin. Then you had the situation of Taylor. Taylor learned that her husband was sexually abusing her 10 year old daughter. The Sovereign Grace Fairfax leadership told Taylor that her sin allowed for her daughter to be sexually abused. Also communicated is that she needed to have more sex with her husband and submit to him more. This was complementarianism theology on steroids. Taylor wrote at SGM Survivors that she would have sex with her husband to the point of being sick. Her daughter was encouraged to lock her door to keep her pedophile father out. And all this was looked at as being healthy by Mark Mullery’s church. Sovereign Grace Fairfax was one of the key churches in the well known lawsuit in 2013. Vince Hinders was a defendant for his role in the alleged cover up. You can read more about this in, “Recalling When Vince Hinders was a Defendant in Child Sex Abuse Cover-up Allegations at Sovereign Grace Fairfax (Now Redeeming Grace Church)”
If McLean Bible is Indifferent to the Issue of Child Sex Abuse Does that Explain how a Situation with an Alleged Predator was Mishandled in The Rock Ministries? Some Other Thoughts
I find this situation between Redeeming Grace Church and McLean Bible to be rich with irony. Chief among them – a pastor who claims to be prolife and who helped cover up child sex abuse is going to be involved in leading the event. Can we honest for a second? Vince Hinders is not pro-life. You can say he is against abortion but if he were pro-life he would have not worked and labored to help cover up child sex abuse at Sovereign Grace Fairfax. Part of the problem with evangelicals is that they often don’t care about a child after they are born. Vince Hinders behavior confirms that as well.
This situation also reveals as to how McLean Bible has gone off the rails and been theologically hijacked. It shows how the leadership at McLean is drinking the Kool Aid in that they would refer people to a church that is ethically challenged in being able to follow Virginia law. Also raised is the following. Does McLean Bible care about child sex abuse? Recently an adult volunteer at The Rock Student Ministries worked at grooming a teenage male for sexual abuse. The situation was badly mishandled despite what McLean Bible is saying. The situation with The Rock also validates why child sex abuse is a crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention. Is part of the reason why McLean Bible is referring people to Redeeming Grace Church is because they themselves don’t understand the seriousness of child sex abuse? For me its disappointing to see how lost McLean Bible has become. McLean Bible has to do better but if not this blog will find situations and issues to point out like what was seen in the September 2019 Ministry Guide. As a reminder if anyone from McLean Bible current;y or during the theological coup that took place ever wants to tell their story they are free to do so at The Wondering Eagle.
Wondering Eagle 