WILD: Prominent pastor caught operating army of accounts to troll his own elders

Josh Buice, senior pastor of Pray’s Mill Baptist Church in Douglasville, Georgia, and G3 Ministries’ now-former president, was recently caught in a very strange scandal.

“It’s not the typical scandal where the leader of a church has fallen into some kind of sexual sin; this is a very online scandal,” says Allie Beth Stuckey.

Earlier this month, Buice was placed on indefinite leave from Pray’s Mill Baptist Church and resigned from his position at G3 Ministries when it was discovered that he had been operating multiple anonymous social media accounts, email addresses, and Substack platforms, which he used to attack fellow Christian leaders, including some from his own church, as well as G3 speakers.

Allie was shocked when she heard the news. G3 is a ministry she “[aligns] with on almost everything.” She’s long admired the organization and Buice for standing firm in conservative values as many evangelicals veered left. Back in 2019, she had him on “Relatable,” and in 2020, she even spoke at a G3 Ministries conference.

To discover that Buice has been trolling his own people for years left her, along with many, reeling.

In its official statement, Pray’s Mill Baptist Church said:

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.

The statement also highlighted that Buice had been “asked on multiple occasions” if he had any connection to the accounts but always “denied any knowledge of them.” Only after “comprehensive evidence emerged linking the accounts directly to him” and much “pleading” from PMBC elders did Buice finally “confess to his actions.”

“I’m impressed by the persistence of G3 leadership to get him to bring these things to light, because it would have been a lot easier for them, especially PR-wise, to pretend that this didn’t happen, to brush it under the rug,” says Allie, but “they did the harder thing — they pushed him to give the honest answer and then they showed transparency to the public.”

To hear more about the scandal, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.