On Thursday (Nov. 14), Josh Buice, founder and president of G3 Ministries, released a statement regarding rumors that have been circulating about Dr. Steven Lawson‘s church membership at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas.
Lawson was removed as the lead pastor of Trinity Bible Church in September after it was revealed that he was involved in an adulteress relationship. Lawson was also removed from his position as the professor of preaching and dean of D.Min. studies at John MacArthur’s The Master’s Seminary.
Other than releasing a public statement that Lawson was removed from “all ministry activities,” Trinity Bible Church has been rather quiet on the matter. The elders of Trinity Bible Church even rebuked Grace Community Church elder Phil Johnson after he shared on social media about details regarding Lawson’s immoral relationship.
Multiple Outlets Have Claimed That Steven Lawson was Not a Member of Trinity Bible Church
Rumors that Lawson wasn’t even a member of Trinity Bible Church started to circulate after Pastors Derek Brown and Cliff McManis, hosts of the podcast “With All Wisdom,” said that they were informed by someone who worked at the church that Lawson was not a pastor, elder, or member of Trinity Bible Church.
“He was not a pastor. He was not an elder at Trinity Bible Church, which we said. He was not the pastor or lead pastor of that church. He was not a member of that church,” McManis told his listeners.
“How do I know all this?” he asked. “Because I’ve been trying to get a hold of Trinity Bible Church in Texas for several weeks, and I finally got a hold of somebody that was willing to talk to me, who actually worked at the church, and they verified everything that we said.”
McManis also said that the church employee was “reluctant” to confirm the information but “agreed” that Lawson was “not an elder,” nor was he a “pastor.” McManis continued, “He was not the lead pastor. [This employee] kind of waffled when I said, ‘Was he a member?’ They didn’t want to tell me, but it was pretty obvious he wasn’t.”
McManis added that he was also informed that Trinity Bible Church wasn’t the “ones managing the Matthew 18 [church discipline] process with [Lawson], because they can’t” since he isn’t a member there.
Before Lawson was removed, Trinity Bible Church’s website described Lawson as its lead preacher—a term that is synonymous in many conservative circles with pastor, elder, or teacher. However, Lawson was not listed as an elder on Trinity Bible Church’s leadership page, possibly indicating he was not part of any decision-making processes at the church.
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Josh Buice Verifies That Steven Lawson is a Member at Trinity Bible Church
Buice explained that he was releasing his statement because Lawson had been an “invited guest speaker” at G3 Ministry events, dating as far back as G3’s first conference. Buice said, “We want to address some questions we’ve received over the past several weeks with full transparency.”