Four pastors from Pray’s Mill Baptist Church (PMBC) in Douglasville, Georgia—Scott Aniol, Matt Sikes, Dylan Joyner, and Jon Norton—publicly apologized to Tom Buck and the elders of First Baptist Church of Lindale, Texas. The admission followed the revelation that the PMBC pastors had sinfully meddled in FBC Lindale’s disciplinary process and sent anonymous packets to multiple individuals falsely accusing Buck of plagiarizing several sermons. Recognizing the severity of their actions, all four pastors voluntarily resigned from their positions at PMBC.
The controversy also impacted G3 Ministries, an organization closely linked to PMBC whose mission is to equip believers with biblical theology. Scott Aniol had recently been named president of G3 Ministries in July 2025, following the resignation of founder Josh Buice over separate social media controversies. In response to the latest fallout, G3 Ministries announced the immediate dissolution of the G3 Church Network and the cancellation of recurring member dues. Despite these leadership shakeups and organizational closures, G3 Ministries’ upcoming “Faithful in the Ordinary” conference in Atlanta remains scheduled.
In their joint apology letter, the former pastors admitted their wrongdoing, acknowledged the pain they caused, and confessed that they should have addressed their concerns privately and directly rather than resorting to anonymous attacks. The elders of First Baptist Church of Lindale acknowledged receiving the apology shortly before it was made public, noting that they had previously attempted private biblical reconciliation after discovering the PMBC leaders’ involvement. FBC Lindale’s leadership stated they would not immediately respond as they process the letter, requesting continued prayers for truth, peace, and future reconciliation.
FULL TEXT OF THE STATEMENT FROM G3 MINISTRIES:
August 25, 2026
Dear elders of First Baptist Lindale,
Thank you for your patience as we took the necessary steps of communication and confession to our deacons and congregation over the last several days.
We are writing to take responsibility for our actions against Tom Buck and your church’s leadership and to seek your forgiveness.
We confess that we sinfully meddled in the disciplinary process of your autonomous local church. We sinned by characterizing how your church handled its discipline situation without knowing all the details. It was wrong and even more serious to send the packets to Tom’s public ministry partners and friends. Furthermore, we should have contacted you directly rather than sending the packets anonymously.
We have sinned against God and against Tom Buck and the leadership of FBC Lindale, and we humbly ask you to forgive us. We recognize the pain this has caused your church, and we are sorry. We offer no excuse for these foolish actions. Sunday afternoon, all four of us voluntarily resigned to our congregation as pastors at Pray’s Mill Baptist Church, we humbly confessed our sin to the congregation, and our congregation graciously forgave us.
We are determined to heed the Puritan Thomas Brooks’s warning that one of Satan’s devices is to make us believe that the work of repentance is an easy work and that we can easily understand and know our heart motives. We are committed to earnestly demonstrating the genuineness of our repentance as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We are committed to working with trusted pastors to outline how we will go about doing that.
Once more, we have no excuse for any of our sin. We are broken and humbled and lay ourselves before you in repentance. Please forgive us.
Sincerely,
Matt Sikes Dylan Joyner Jon Norton Scott Aniol
