A recent pre-dawn raid by federal agents on the home of Tennessee Pastor Greg Locke is part of an ongoing probe by the Internal Revenue Service alleging he misappropriated church funds, a former staffer and police claimed.
Locke, the lead pastor of Global Vision Bible Church in Lebanon, told his congregation on July 12 that 60 federal agents ransacked his home and media company, Locke Media, just three weeks into a six-week sabbatical he had taken to mourn his 20-year-old son, Evan, who died from a drug overdose in May.
At the time, Locke didn’t disclose to his congregation which federal agency was behind the investigation beyond that it was a “three-letter agency.”
Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan confirmed in a statement to The Tennessean that the IRS was involved in the raid. When asked if the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office could share any details on the two warrants Locke said were used to search his premises, Capt. Scott Moore, the sheriff’s public information officer, told The Christian Post that they didn’t have any records concerning any investigation of Locke or his church but confirmed that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has an open investigation.
“Our office is not the custodian of records for federal entities or their pending investigations, and we cannot confirm actions taken by external agencies,” Moore said. “Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has an ongoing investigation and no information will be released as a result of that.”
Steve Stanley, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, told CP on July 15 that they couldn’t comment regarding the investigation into Locke “at this time.” He noted, however, that “if anything ever changes in the future,” he’ll share that.
The Christian Post has reached out to Locke’s media team. A response is pending. The IRS did not respond to a request for comment from CP.
In his announcement on July 12, Locke blamed the investigation on criticism he’s been facing for the last two years, including from agitators connected to a “certain page” on Facebook and “a book that was put out last year.” He insists that he and his family “have nothing to hide.”
“Over the course of the last two years, and hear my heart when I say this, I will retaliate against none of them publicly or privately. We’ve had a lot of criticism, some very much deserved, and we’ve dealt with that, repented of it,” Locke said.
“But there’s a certain page that has been around on Facebook for the last couple of years, very quiet lately, and I’m grateful for that. But because of the originator of the page, because of the page and because of a book that was put out last year, whatever time that was, and then praise the Lord, retracted because God vindicates his children,” he added.
On Dec. 9, 2025, married couple Justin and Kasey Greenwell resigned as pastors of Locke’s online ministry after four years on staff. They alleged that Locke’s church lacks financial transparency and accused the lead pastor of spiritual abuse in a six-page letter published on Facebook. In January, they also published a book about their experience at the church, titled Pulpit of Leaves: Deception in Plain Sight: Unmasking Counterfeit Voices, Charisma, and Control in the Church.
Justin Greenwell told CP in an interview last Thursday that he unpublished the book on Amazon for personal reasons. He also claimed that he and his wife were interviewed multiple times by investigators from the IRS but said they were told the investigation began well before they went public with their concerns.
“They [federal agents] met my wife and I multiple times,” Greenwell said. “They had been doing this investigation for over a year-and-a-half now, according to what they told me. And so they knew things that I didn’t even know. They knew names and were asking me if I knew who these people were, and I had no idea who these people were. So that’s really where I was at.”
Dissent over Locke’s stewardship of his church’s finances erupted publicly in October 2024 when he offered to refund donations to the church’s building fund during a diatribe against some members of his church. He also appeared to suggest in his comments that his church was being operated in accordance with IRS guidelines, and had previously said in 2022 that he had ended his church’s section 501(c)(3) classification so that he could speak freely about politics.
“Listen, we got IRS paperwork. We got lawyers. We got a CPA that says we have a squeaky clean book, and you’re like, ‘Well, [why] won’t you show them to me?’ You think I carry them around in my iPhone?” Locke asked.
“If you’re that worried about it, listen, if you think we abscond with money, then we can look up your giving record, and I’ll give it all back to you tomorrow. No matter how much you’ve ever given to this church, you can have it [because] it’s there. And by the way, every dime that’s ever come in for that building at Love’s Way is still in the bank right now,” he said.
In November 2024, Locke reneged on that offer, and his attorney allegedly threatened at least one donor who asked for their money back.
In 2024, some church members questioned why the church failed to close on a real estate deal to move the church from its former 2060 Old Lebanon Dirt Road address in west Wilson County to the Love’s Way Church facility at 310 Coles Ferry Pike in Lebanon.
Locke stated that he was under contract to buy the Love’s Way property for $5.5 million, but the building fund was $5 million short, which he said would require a miracle from God to fulfill. He stated that the real estate deal would not go through if God did not provide this miracle.
Love’s Way Pastor Johan McGregor confirmed on Oct. 30, 2024, that Global Vision Bible Church could not close on the sale.
Locke suggested that some members of the church had accused him and his family of using the church’s money for personal enrichment, including the purchase of new cars and a mansion allegedly worth $1.6 million.
Locke said that he, his wife, Tai Locke, and daughter had purchased new cars, but they were all financed. He also said that though he had purchased a new house, it was only worth $625,000. He said he paid $1 million for 28 acres of land as a good investment.
“‘Well, you know the reason we’ve not been able to close on Love’s Way is because Pastor Locke stole all the building fund money to buy a $1.6 million house.’ Let me tell you something, not only is that a lie, that is slanderous, and I’m going to tell you why,” Locke said, repeating the allegations against him.
“First of all, I bought a $625,000 house and a million dollars worth of 28 acres. And I remind you, 6 acres right here cost us $1.2 million three years ago.”
He further noted that the money for his new house came from five businessmen and his personal savings.
Justin Greenwell told CP last Thursday that he finds Locke’s claim that he has “nothing to hide” problematic.
“There was no transparency in the financials of the church. Absolutely zero,” he told CP. “There were times where we were asked for there to be transparency; [he said] it was none of our business. It was, ‘Well, if you can’t trust your pastor, then you don’t need to be here,’ kind of thing.”
Greenwell said when it came to online donations, only Locke and his wife could see what was coming into the church.
“Nobody could see what was coming in. There was a period of time where he did allow certain staff members to count the offerings that came in on the in-house (collection), but once it hit the bank account, there was just, there was no transparency, and nobody knew where the money went,” Greenwell said. “Whenever I even talk to them and ask them about who our tax guy is, his wife was like, ‘I do all of our taxes.’”
Jen Rockwell, another former Global Vision Bible Church member who started a social media campaign called “unlocked” to expose alleged corruption, financial manipulation and purported psychological control at the church, stated on Facebook that Locke sent her a “lengthy text message” on Sunday night stating her group got what they wanted.
“I don’t know what you think unLOCKEd wanted or wants, but I assure you, we haven’t gotten it yet,” she wrote. “What we want has nothing to do with criminal investigations.”
Earlier this month, Locke told his congregation that federal agents searched his home for three hours looking for evidence of alleged crimes, including child trafficking.
“They took our phones, downloaded everything out of them. They took all of our computers, our devices. Three hours went by. Three of the most earth-shattering, humiliating hours of our life. And they left with a little tiny box of literally a few bank statements,” he said. “They went through the pages of our library books, every drawer, every cabinet, every bed, every attic, every space, every chicken coop, every shed on our property.”
Locke said his personal bank accounts, as well as the accounts for his church, have been canceled. He also said that in the next month, the church will lose its building.
Greenwell told CP that Locke’s congregation might not have a building in a month if he’s unable to pay the rent. Greenwell said it was highly unlikely that Locke’s innocence would be proven if a forensic audit were to be conducted on the church’s finances.
“I do not believe that because there’s never been any board meetings. There’s never been any meeting minutes. There’s never been any financial decisions that have been made from a collective group of people,” he said.
“He is a religious nonprofit, and there are standards that you have to run the religious nonprofit by, and he does not do any such things,” Greenwell claimed. “He will spend the money the way he wants, how he wants and where he wants.”
Greenwell said Locke has boasted in the past about how generous he’s been to other ministries, but added that generosity still needs to be accounted for.
“If you’re going to give a million dollars to a ministry, there needs to be minutes, notes, and there needs to be a meeting with deacons that are going to agree that this is the best financial decision for our church to make and not just have a pastor all willy nilly stroking huge, humongous checks, and giving away tithers’ money. … While we’re still having church in a tent without running water or electricity, pretty much,” he told CP.
“We’re renting port-a-potties and running electricity off generators, while he’s stroking humongous checks to these other ministries, and doing it all [while] saying he’s benevolent. But gathering people onto themselves is what he was doing, and getting people to like him and getting people to allow him to go and speak at their event, make his name very well known throughout [the] religious world,” he added. “That’s what his goal was, and he was using givers’ money to do that, to make a name for himself.”
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