A20 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, APRIL 1 , 2022
has twice spoken at the church.
Alarm about Locke within the
group coordinated by Davis rose
significantly last month, when
Locke posted on Facebook that he
would be having a “massive burn-
ing” after the Feb. 2 evening serv-
ice, noting: “We’re not playing
games. Witchcraft and accursed
things must go.” Locke said his
inspiration came from the Bible,
in Acts Chapter 19, where disci-
ples of Jesus burned books on the
“curious arts.”
More than 200 people attend-
ed, under the watch of local law
enforcement, gathering around a
bonfire and tossing books, movies
and games into the flames, blow-
ing horns and chanting “burn it,
burn it.”
In another episode, Locke ex-
pelled a couple from his church,
accusing them of witchcraft. Gina
Guy Warren and Brian Warren
had been serving as his personal
trainer and volunteer security de-
tail. Gina, a speaker and author,
and Brian, a mixed martial arts
fighter, run a ministry they call
“The Word and the Workout,” that
brings “church and gym together
as one.”
After Locke accused them pub-
licly in a sermon last month of
“full blown witchcraft,” the couple
claimed they received threats and
said in a statement to The Wash-
ington Post they do not feel safe.
Locke said the expulsion
stemmed from a dispute over
whether to charge for counseling
sessions related to exorcisms,
which he opposed.
Clint Mahoney and his partner
Chris Hardin were on their way to
visit relatives in the area from
their home in Indiana when they
heard about the bonfire. They
decided to stop by and wage a
counterprotest. Mahoney threw a
Bible into the flames, waved a
copy of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahren-
heit 451, the dystopian tale of a
society where books are outlawed,
and mockingly yelled “Hail Sa-
tan.” He and his partner then
kissed at their car to howls of
disgust from church security try-
ing to evict them.
“We’re going to send a state-
ment. This is not going to stand
without some opposition,” Hardin
said. “You can’t operate with im-
punity. We are watching you.” Ma-
honey, who said he was expelled
from a church and from his family
when he came out as gay, agreed.
“There are so many people in
churches like Locke’s flying under
the radar and fomenting radical-
ism all over this country,” he said.
Back underneath the big tent,
the exorcising of evil spirits con-
tinued with a Kentucky teen who
had been brought to the service by
his grandfather, Nightingale, a
church attendee. The boy, Bron-
son, had been writhing on the
ground, beset, when he suddenly
got up and sprinted for the door.
Volunteers from the church, in
black hoodies, tackled the teen in
the back of the room. They held
him down, rubbed his back with
Bibles, prayed in tongues and ex-
claimed, “Out, out, out!” One blew
a shofar, the ram’s horn normally
used in Jewish religious ceremo-
nies that some Christians also use.
The two had watched Locke
together online, but it was Bron-
son’s first time at a service, Night-
ingale said. The boy, who had
never sworn before, according to
his grandmother, was now cuss-
ing at the volunteers and growl-
ing.
“This is what happens at a
deliverance service,” Locke said
from the pulpit. “Cry it out, shout
it out, weep it out, snot it out.
We’re going to set people free
tonight.”
Suddenly Bronson’s tight body
went limp. The volunteers hud-
dled over him. When they helped
him to his feet, he was smiling and
calm, ready to be baptized. “Amen,
I never had to chase nobody be-
fore,” one of the volunteers told
the teen.
“There’s a first time for every-
thing,” Bronson said. They went
up to the front of the room, where
a livestock watering tank painted
sky blue inside awaited and the
Praise band began softly playing
the worship song “No Longer
Slaves.”
“I’m no longer a slave to fear, I
am a child of God,” they sang.
Locke came down from the stage
all smiles. Bronson stepped gin-
gerly into the tank.
“Upon your confession of faith
in Jesus Christ, the power and
glory of the Gospel and this beau-
tiful deliverance we have seen
tonight, I baptize you in the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,”
Locke said, dunking Bronson into
the water as the music swelled.
Bronson came up, water sluic-
ing from his jeans and shirt, smil-
ing radiantly. His grandfather
wrapped his arms around his
neck from behind and crooned
into his ear along with the music,
“You are a child of God.”
“Hallelujah,” everybody said.Tom Hamburger and Alice Crites
contributed to this report.try.”
Samuel Perry, an associate pro-
fessor of sociology at the Univer-
sity of Oklahoma and an author of
the forthcoming book “The Flag
and the Cross: White Christian
Nationalism and the Threat to
American Democracy,” said he
was not surprised to see Locke
veer into portraying what’s hap-
pening in America in apocalyptic
terms as a grand battle between
the forces of good and evil.
“Greg Locke has tapped into
what is currently selling within
that group at the moment, angry
White evangelicals responding to
talk of persecution, talk of politi-
cal chaos and the need to rise up,
get organized and be militant,”
Perry said. “That’s what’s work-
ing, so he’s going to give that
message.”
Locke rejects the label of Chris-
tian nationalist saying, “I don’t
want a theocracy. I love America,
but I also love Jesus. I don’t think
that makes me a Christian nation-
alist.” But, he said, he does believe
politics has a place in church.
“I think we’re in the mess we
are in because cowardly pastors
won’t talk” about politics, which
has “100 percent got a place in the
church. Jesus was very political,
John the Baptist, every preacher
in the Bible was extraordinarily
political,” he said.
Locke grew up in the area. He
was a troubled teen who was ar-
rested five times for theft, reckless
endangerment, and breaking and
entering, before finding Jesus
while in a local home for troubled
boys. He completed his bachelor’s
degree from Ambassador Baptist
College in North Carolina and
claims a master’s degree from a
theological school that has a Face-
book page but no website. He
founded what is now Global Vi-
sion Bible Church in 2006. The
church moved to its location on
Old Lebanon Dirt Road in 2008.
Locke first garnered some na-
tional attention back in 2016,
when a video rant about unisex
bathrooms at Target went viral.
But his fame rose during the pan-
demic as he held church services
in defiance of shutdown orders,
falsely claimed the coronavirus
vaccine was made from the tissue
of aborted fetuses and posted a
sign outside the church that read,
“This is a mask free church cam-
pus. We celebrate faith over fear.”
He said he still “1000 percent”
believes the false claim that the
2020 election was stolen from
Trump, and he spoke at a rally in
Washington the day before the
insurrection where, according to
a published report, he told the
crowd, “I declare unto you that
President Donald Trump is gonna
stay for four more years in the
White House,” adding: “We’re a
mighty army. They’ve gotta listen.
They can’t ignore us. Our church-
es have been backed into a cor-
ner.”
Locke gave “one of the clearest
and most violent prayers of the
day,” noted the report, a joint
project released last month by the
Baptist Joint Committee for Reli-
gious Liberty and the Freedom
From Religion Foundation that
detailed Christian nationalism in
the insurrection.
Since then, he has found allies
in Trump supporters like former
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and con-
spiracy theorists like Mike Lin-
dell, the “My Pillow” guy, and flies
around the country giving speech-
es at political rallies and church
events where speakers mix Chris-
tian ideology with anti-big-gov-
ernment rhetoric and unproved
claims about election fraud. For-
mer Trump adviser Roger Stonethe company banning him in Sep-
tember for his tweets spreading
misinformation about covid-19.
Locke’s church had already di-
vided the Davis family into camps
of those who attended services
and those, like Leyna and her
father, Chip, who oppose it, before
her uncle, Coburn Kennedy, died
at age 79 last year.
Kennedy was a former gospel
and country music singer who
had given up his career to raise a
family but always encouraged his
nephews to follow their musical
dreams. Chip Davis credits his
uncle’s encouragement as the rea-
son he and his brother Billy are
still in the music business, Chip as
a vocalist for the country group
Alabama, Billy as a music pro-
ducer.
The Davises watched in dismay
as their relative repeated Locke’s
vaccine misinformation and re-
fused to get the shot. There is
“stuff in this vaccine” such as
“aborted fetuses,” Coburn Ken-
nedy wrote in a family group chat
that Chip saved, saying he’d put
his trust in God rather than get
the shot.
Two months later, their beloved
“Unc” was dead from covid-19. “It
says volumes about the state of
our country” that Locke “has a
big-ass circus tent and it’s filling
up with 3,000 people a week com-
ing from all over the United
States,” Chip Davis said. “When I
look at it, I’m afraid for our coun-To accommodate the growth,
the church went on a buying spree
last fall, spending nearly $2 mil-
lion on four adjoining and nearby
properties, land records show.
One of those parcels has already
been resold, the church said.
Locke said the church raised
more than $4 million last year
and gave much of it away, handing
out $100 grocery cards to the
needy and hosting a “reverse of-
fering” at Christmas where they
gave away $66,000 in five min-
utes.
Those who attend the church
say they were drawn to his style of
preaching, “verse by verse”
straight from the Bible, as well as
his outspokenness.
“You’ll never find a better man
who speaks the word of God than
Greg Locke,” said Thomas Night-
ingale, who drives 80 miles from
his home in Scottsville, Ky., to
attend services. Of Locke’s contro-
versial statements, he said, “We’ve
seen it all. That’s every church in
the world but we seem to top ‘em
sometimes. Never a dull mo-
ment.”
Davis and the group of watch-
ers, both local and around the
country, monitor Locke closely,
reporting misinformation he
posts on social media, calling out
churches that host him and alert-
ing authorities to potentially dan-
gerous activities. Davis said she
believes their repeated reporting
of Locke to Twitter contributed toof Tennessee and the FBI said they
do not confirm or deny the exis-
tence of investigations as a matter
of policy.
When Brian Larson took over
as the administrator of one of the
town’s unofficial Facebook pages
in February, he went through and
deleted all posts either by or about
the pastor. He set new terms and
conditions that forbade any men-
tion of the church or Locke: “Any
promotion of Global Vision Bible
Church will result in suspension
or ban,” citing “hate speech
toward mental disabilities, cul-
ture/beliefs and sexual orienta-
tion.”
Larson said he is concerned
that Locke could encourage his
followers to attack those he has
deemed evil. “He rode on the
Trump train and attracted follow-
ers with Donald Trump’s strategy
of shock and awe,” Larson said. “If
you look back at the Salem witch
trials you know what I mean.
You’ve got a guy telling people
there are witches and demons out
there and to go and get them. If he
claims somebody is dangerous
and needs to be taken care of,
something bad could happen.”
Locke called Larson’s concerns
“utter nonsense” and said the
town’s Facebook group, with posts
on healthy brunch options and
trivia nights, is run by “a bunch of
witches.”
“I could care less what they
think about me to be honest with
you,” Locke said in an interview in
his remodeled office, which in-
cludes artwork of the prophet
Elijah before flames and a tat-
tered American flag. “Jesus said,
‘Beware when all men speak well
of you.’ I’m not trying to make
friends in this town. I’m trying to
preach the truth,” he said.
“We’re definitely the most po-
larizing church in town,” Locke
added. “Either you love us or you
hate us. There’s no middle
ground.”
Locke has a social media fol-
lowing of 4 million across multi-
ple platforms, and attendance at
Sunday services has grown from
200 before the pandemic to more
than 1,000, spilling out of the
church building and into an enor-
mous climate-controlled tent,
which Locke calls a “canvas ca-
thedral.”“If you’ve had the covid-19 shot,
I’m telling you you’ve got poison
in your veins,” Locke thundered.
“We call out the covid-19 vaccine
out right now. Keep that demonic
spirit out of you right now in the
name of Jesus!”
Some fell to the ground, pawing
at cedar chips, or retched into
silver vomit buckets that had been
set at the end of each row of white
folding chairs.
To those unfamiliar with char-
ismatic worship style, the scene
might be easily dismissed or
mocked. Yet Locke, 45, head of the
Global Vision Bible Church,
boasts millions of followers, many
of them online, gaining national
attention during the coronavirus
crisis when he kept his church
open and defied the mask man-
dates of the “fake pandemic.”
But to his critics, he is spread-
ing a dangerous message of hate
that is taking root in some con-
servative churches. His rising
prominence also comes as many
mainstream faith leaders and ex-
perts on extremism grow increas-
ingly concerned about the spread
of White Christian nationalism,
the belief that patriotism and love
of America are explicitly inter-
twined with White evangelical
Christianity.
Locke is an “ambassador” of a
movement where he and other
pastors around the country ap-
pear at rallies and tent revivals
preaching Donald Trump’s fraud-
ulent claims that the election was
stolen as a new holy war, accord-
ing to Amanda Tyler, executive
director of the Baptist Joint Com-
mittee for Religious Liberty, an
organization dedicated to reli-
gious freedom.
“If someone is convinced that
God has preordained an election
result for a messiah-like candi-
date and is told over and over that
the election was stolen, that
erodes trust in elections and de-
mocracy,” Tyler said.
Locke, in an interview, was de-
fiant that he is not a Christian
nationalist, but he makes no apol-
ogies for bringing politics into the
pulpit. He was on the steps of the
U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6
insurrection and has continued to
preach the falsehood that the
2020 presidential election was
stolen.
Locke and his ministry have
divided this quiet town on the
outskirts of Nashville with many
residents distressed at the thou-
sands who flock here to hear him
and the attention he attracts,
most recently with a book burn-
ing where he and followers threw
copies of the “Harry Potter” and
“Twilight” series and Disney vil-
lain merchandise into a giant
bonfire. He has declared he now
wants to “deliver” people from
demonic influences and witch-
craft.
Nashville resident Leyna Davis,
along with other members of a
loosely organized group of citi-
zens who have been closely watch-
ing Locke and trying to combat
misinformation he spreads, be-
gan seriously following him after
her uncle, a member of his church,
refused to get the coronavirus
vaccine and died of covid-19 last
year.
While Locke was casting out
demons, the mother of four was at
home using the gaming console of
her kids to play recordings of his
Sunday sermon, rewinding to
watch it and texting others as she
went through it.
During the sermon, Locke
made no apologies for speaking
about demons and witchcraft. “I
love you enough to make sure I’m
hated for telling the truth,” he told
his congregation. Davis sighed
and pressed pause.
“We kind of understand why
people got into him. He goes so far
off the deep end,” Davis said. “But
how do they still listen to this?
This is a whole new level of crazy.”
Locke is well known through-
out Mount Juliet, a mostly White
and affluent community of
39,000, with an exurban mix of
churches, farmettes and subdivi-
sions long home to stars from the
Nashville country music scene,
including the late Charlie Daniels.
Neighbors have complained to
authorities about noise, growing
crowds, unauthorized construc-
tion and public safety threats that
accompany events run by Locke,
including two for which members
of the neo-fascist Proud Boys pro-
vided “security.” Locke blessed the
members from the pulpit and lat-
er posed for pictures with them as
the Proud Boys flashed white-su-
premacist symbols.
The Wilson County sheriff’s of-
fice did not respond to repeated
requests for comment about
Locke and his activities. The
House committee investigating
the Jan. 6 attack listed Locke on a
request for documents to the Na-
tional Archives.
A spokesman for the House
committee declined to comment.
Spokespeople for the U.S. attor-
ney’s office for the Middle District
PASTOR FROM A
One Tennessee pastor divides his community with politics
PHOTOS BY WILLIAM DESHAZER FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTTOP: Greg Locke, pastor of Global Vision Bible Church, baptizes members of the congregation inside
the tent where he preaches last month. ABOVE: Billy Davis, left, sits with his niece, Leyna Davis, and
brother, Chip Davis, outside the family home near Global Vision Bible Church. They lost their uncle,
Coburn Kennedy, to covid-19, and hold the church partially responsible for his refusing the vaccine.Locke preaches from the stage inside his church tent this month.
He makes no apologies for talking about politics from the pulpit.