All four elders of Pray’s Mill Baptist Church (PMBC) have resigned following the revelation that they were involved in anonymously distributed damaging allegations against a former G3 Ministries board member.
On Friday night, Scott Aniol, Jon Norton, Dylan Joyner, and Matt Sikes- the pastors of PMBC, a prominent Reformed church in Douglasville, GA, known for their teaching ministry and association with G3 ministries- stepped down from leadership. The news was shared with the congregation on Sunday.
These pastors, who also comprise much of G3’s leadership (with Scott Aniol as President), were involved in preparing and mailing an anonymous letter and dossier to First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, accusing pastor and former G3 board member Tom Buck of serial sermon plagiarism.
Months later, the same dossier was mailed to multiple parachurch and church ministries (including us), claiming that FBC Lindale had not “dealt with the public sin biblically” and encouraging recipients to review the information and “conduct your own investigation.”
G3 (Gospel – Grace – Glory) began as a small pastors’ conference and, within a decade, grew to one of the largest evangelical conferences in the country, hosting well over 5,000 annual attendees and transitioning into a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit with annual revenue topping $1.7 million. The conference hosted well-known voices in conservative evangelicalism, including John MacArthur, Voddie Baucham, Ken Ham, and Steve Lawson.
Last Monday, after we broke the initial story, these men faced sustained criticism, prompting internal and external calls for their resignation. Furthermore, several people associated with G3 requested their materials be removed from the website.
Protestia publisher David Morrill (@coconservative7) notes that the timing and details of their resignations were concerning:
Something needs to be understood about the sequence of events with the PMBC elders’ resignations. The deacons insisted on their resignations, which they all offered by Friday night.
There is no evidence yet that they have resigned due to true repentance, only to avoid being formally removed by the congregation rather than the congregation merely voting to accept their resignation.
And this difference matters – when they resign, they retain agency. Resignation is not repentance, and they are owed no congratulations for doing what is clearly in their self-interest. It remains to be seen whether they will submit to similar church discipline demands made of Josh Buice. Be thankful that the PMBC deacons did what needed to be done, and pray that these former elders (but current church members) actually confess and repent of their sin.
Also, it matters that Scott Aniol resigned on Friday night, and still got up and preached at the Puritan reformed conference on Saturday. He must not be allowed to remain president of whatever is left of G3 after being forced out of the pulpit on account of his sin.
Keep PMBC and the families of these men in your prayers.
