G3 President Josh Buice resigns amid scandal
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
The resignation of G3 President Josh Buice amid scandal has shocked many, revealing his misuse of anonymous accounts to slander fellow Christians. The G3 Board emphasizes the need for integrity in leadership as they plan for the ministry’s future. What lessons can the layman learn when a leader falls?
I sat here for the longest time, staring at the blinking cursor. Where to start? What to say? A ministry I’ve participated in, a ministry I’d promoted, a ministry I’d respected, announced today that its president had resigned amid scandal.
Not AGAIN, I’d thought. Another one bites the dust?!
Twelve years ago in 2013 the pastor of Prays Mill Baptist Church in Douglasville, GA (near Atlanta) held a conference named G3. This stands for Gospel-Grace-Glory. The pastor of the church, Josh Buice (pronounced Bice rhymes with dice) led this founding and organizing effort, which had 750 attendees. By 2025 the conference had grown to attract almost 8000 attendees. The National Conference attracted top tier speakers from all over the world, a who’s who of expositors, as well as respected musicians to lead music at the national conference. Along the way, the ministry incorporated as a 501-c-3, established G3 Press, G3+, a leveled membership giving paid members access written materials and videos, held numerous Regional Conferences, founded the G3 Church Network, and had plans to found Tyndale College, a new, conservative classical college to disciple Christian students. It was fast, explosive growth.
Such exponential growth is questionable when it comes to ministry. The woe of popularity (Luke 6:26) is something to watch out for. But it was solid guys associated with it and other solid guys threw in with G3 and well, it seemed that the Holy Spirit must be behind this growth.
It hurts when you’ve invested in a ministry and it betrays you. By invest I mean having volunteered your time or energy, sent money, participated in, recommended to others; you’re with the ministry. And then a leader is outed as a liar, slanderer, hypocrite, and divider.
Apparently according to the statement below and linked to, that is the conclusion the elders of the G3 Board and elders of Prays Mill Church had arrived at. Buice had been active online under different names and different accounts. He’d been using these anonymous accounts to slander fellow Christians, even his own elders and friends. He had stirred up dissent, had fomented angry feelings. Worse, his activities had apparently aroused suspicion and his elders repeatedly asked him over the course of two years if he was doing these things. Buice vehemently denied it. Finally, when confronted in early May, for two hours, Buice denied his anonymous, slanderous activity. Only when presented with incontrovertible evidence, did he say, OK, yeah, that’s me.
The church elders say Buice is contrite and repentant. They say he has asked for forgiveness. But is he? When someone has to be “much pleaded” with to repent, is it a genuine repentance?
One who conceals hatred has lying lips, And one who spreads slander is a fool. (Proverbs 10:18).
There is a reason most of the qualifications of a church pastor or leader are character driven, not skill driven. “Above reproach” has meaning. Once trust is broken, once someone’s character is outed as dwelling among a whitewashed tomb, well, you have fallen under. We still love the brother. But the trust? The witness? The testimony of his words? Can’t be recovered to the point of being a trusted leader again. He is permanently tarnished. He is destined for the pew.
With news of G3 President Josh Buice’s fall and resignation, I’d like to praise the Holy Spirit for keeping John MacArthur unstained from disqualifying sin for 60 years of ministry. I also praise the Holy Spirit for keeping my own pastor upright. Thank you, Spirit, for keeping local pastors who labor hard, from such scandal and sin. That ANY can stand is a testament to Jesus’ work in justification and the Spirit’s work in sanctification. When a famous leader falls, there are 1000 more unknown laborers for Christ who haven’t. Remember that.
But the famous falls do more damage.
Leaders have always fallen. 2025 isn’t new. There were HUGE televangelist scandals in the late 1980s. Big ones in the space of 18 months. Robertson, Swaggart, Bakker, Haggard. Sadly, no matter a ridiculous televangelist or a seemingly solid reformed, Jesus’ name is besmirched.
In this study looking at the impact of religious scandals, “The televangelist scandals of the late 1980s did lead to negative reactions to religion. The reputation of televangelists worsened and various evaluations of clergy and organized religion also suffered.” The Impact of the Televangelist Scandals of 1987-88 on American Religious Beliefs and Behaviors, by Tom W. Smith. I wasn’t saved then and I thought that Christianity was totally ridiculous. A buncha hypocrites, I tell ya.
That some leaders fall is a powerful object lesson in the power of sin to draw one away from the safe refuge under Jesus. That some remain standing is a testament not only to the Spirit but to the diligence of the believer. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We must pursue holiness every day and all the time. Choose holiness. Pray, read the Bible, attend Church, live an open life before believers
The lessons for me here are several-fold. First, the power of sin. We read in the Bible “Therefore let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Do we read that and tend to think, ‘Not me.’ Well…YES ME. Sin is incremental. It begins with a thought. It grows to a desire. It leads to not resisting that desire. An action comes from trying to satisfy that desire. And then our conscience becomes used to it, and we pet the sin. We excuse the sin. We think, no, not me. I can handle it. WE CAN’T.
Likely Buice began with good intentions. Maybe? I hope. But then because our hearts grow idols faster than kudzu on a vine, it transforms to an idol.
Anything can be an idol. Work. Church volunteering. Positions. Titles. Family. Marriage. Any good things can turn into sins if indulged as an idol long enough. We have to cut it away like a the dead, bloodless, useless flesh that it is.
And if your eye is causing you to sin, throw it away; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell, (Mark 9:47).
Jesus is serious about sin. We are literally swimming in sin; the world is sinful and our bodies are sinful and then there’s the demons pushing believers to sin. We are done for. Cooked. Stick a fork in us. BUT GOD. He sent Jesus to live the perfectly holy life that we cannot, to die on the cross as His sacrifice, and to absorb all God’s wrath for OUR sins so that we could go to heaven and be His bride.
THANK YOU JESUS.
Secondly, it all spurs me to appreciate my own pastor and elders more and more. I do not want to take their hard work and good reputations for granted, I am sure they battle lots of temptations and their work never really ends. An unfallen pastor is worth his weight in gold.
Betrayals happen. When they occur in Christendom where friends are supposed to be part of a BODY, it hurts more. I can’t imagine Paul’s feelings of betrayal of being traded for the world by Demas. Of Jesus being betrayed for money by Judas.
But after having laughed at and mocked the fallen ‘leaders’ of the 1980s, in the 2000s I was saved. I came to have a proper perspective of Christendom and saw just how beautiful Jesus is. Nothing can change His beauty. His bride is beautiful. We might see it now through a sinful haze of darkness clouding our vision, but His bride is gorgeous. Pure, holy, strong. That does not diminish. He sends false brothers to test us, He makes trials like a downfall to strengthen us. He shows us what genuine repentance is and non-genuine repentance is.
As we are rocked by a scandal, but then pray with increased fervor, or we straighten up our backs and resolve to be dutiful in our walk, He is glorified. As we reach for each other to have Godly conversations and promises of greater accountability, we glorify Him. Far from the hopeless defeat a fallen leader brings, it makes his light brighter for all the reasons He brings good out of evil.
Jesus is great.
Further Reading:
Dave Jenkins wrote this helpful essay – When Christian Leaders Fall- A Biblical Response to Sin and Repentance
May 12, 2025: Statement Regarding Josh Buice, By The Board of G3 Ministries
The Lord calls his church to walk in the light, to speak the truth in love, and to uphold integrity, especially among those entrusted with leadership. It is in that spirit of sober transparency and humble accountability that we, the board of G3 Ministries (G3), share the following statement regarding Dr. Josh Buice, President of G3 and elder at Pray’s Mill Baptist Church (PMBC).
In recent weeks, the elders of PMBC uncovered irrefutable evidence that Dr. Buice has, for the past three years, operated at least four anonymous social media accounts, two anonymous email addresses, and two Substack platforms. These accounts were used to publicly and anonymously slander numerous Christian leaders, including faithful pastors (some of whom have spoken at G3 conferences), several PMBC elders, and others. These actions were not only sinful in nature but deeply divisive, causing unnecessary suspicion and strife within the body of Christ, and particularly within the eldership of PMBC.
Dr. Buice had been asked on multiple occasions over the past two years whether he had any connection to these anonymous accounts. In each case, he denied any knowledge of them. On Sunday evening, May 4, 2025, after clear and comprehensive evidence emerged linking the accounts directly to him, the elders of PMBC confronted Josh. For some time, he continued to deny his involvement. Only after further evidence was presented and much pleading with him to walk in the light did Josh finally confess to his actions. Since then, Josh has acknowledged his sin, expressed sorrow, and asked for forgiveness. His desire is to personally ask forgiveness of every person he has slandered or lied to. While Josh has acknowledged with the elders that he is presently disqualified from serving as an elder, we do not believe at this time that his sin is necessarily permanently disqualifying. Accordingly, his content will remain accessible via the G3 website and G3+. To be clear, no other employee or board member of G3 knew Josh was engaged in this activity; he acted alone.
On May 8, after some members of the board privately encouraged Josh Buice to resign, the board received and unanimously accepted Josh Buice’s resignation as President of G3. In light of these events, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the upcoming national G3 Conference and all 2025 workshops. All registrants, exhibitors, and publishers will receive a full refund of registration fees. G3 plans to continue G3+, G3 Press, the G3 Student Retreat, and other media content. As we look to the ministry’s future, we will prioritize the publication of helpful biblical content that strengthens the church and avoids the dangerous celebrity culture that has unfortunately come to characterize so much of modern evangelicalism.
We grieve for the harm caused to the body of Christ and to those faithful ministers who were targeted. We likewise reaffirm our commitment to walk in the light, to speak the truth in love, and to labor together for the building up of Christ’s church in holiness and unity.
We also ask for your continued prayers and support for G3 as we work towards fulfilling our mission to educate, encourage, and equip local churches with sound biblical theology for the glory of God.
Here is a link to the church’s statement.
Sincerely,
The Board of G3 Ministries
