Greg Locke Moving Church Over Noise Complaints

Greg Locke is the former MAGA pastor rebranded as a hyper-charismatic NARpostle. Unsurprisingly he has had a slew of controversies both on a national level and at a local one. Earlier this year Greg Locke’s church was vandalized with burnt Bibles. Also on the local front, his church has put itself at odds with its local county over noise complaints.

Local governments going after bad churches may have less to do with the offenses of the church and more to do with a disposition against Christianity or personal beef. But there does appear to be a grassroots effort in Wilson County, Tennessee to oppose Global Vision Bible Church’s excess noise.

There is a petition that began in January 2023 that received over 2000 signatures.

We, the residents of West Wilson county request that Wilson County and Wilson County Sherriff Department take immediate and effective action to stop excessive amplified sound emanating in the west end of the county.

Wilson County is an incredible place to live and our community is thriving. We, the citizens, aim to do everything in our power to protect and preserve the constitutional rights and freedoms of every citizen. However, there is amplified sound from large groups of people that are frequently heard late into the night on weekdays and weekends for extensive periods of time. The excessive noise disturbances disregard and disrespect the peace and well-being of all residents in West Wilson County. We, the undersigned residents, have placed many calls to the Wilson County Sherriff Dept reporting the loud noise and music. The excessive noise and music have continued all hours of the day and late into the night, despite our repeated complaints. 

Currently, there is no noise ordinance in place in Wilson County to help police address this nuisance. In order to preserve our peaceful community, maintain property value, and protect our quiet rural community, we must push for a noise ordinance. A noise ordinance has been in the works, but nothing has yet to change. Please call our representatives and/or email them from the wilsoncountytn.gov webpage to express your concern so we can continue to live in peace.

The petition makes no mention of Greg Locke or Global Vision Bible Church. The Go Fund Me campaign does, however, lay the lion’s share of blame on GVBC.

For most of us, the main reason for pursuing a noise ordinance is the excessive noise from Global Vision Bible Church (GVBC). While we respect everyone’s right to the freedom of religious expression, we also believe that part of loving thy neighbor includes keeping the noise down to reasonable levels while also being respectful to neighbors and local authorities. The community continues to have its peace disrupted on a regular basis; a lawsuit seems to be the reasonable next step to protect our community from this nuisance.

 

GVBC is currently building new ‘structures’, but these measures have been minimally effective at minimizing noise thus far. Most of the surrounding neighbors continue to have their peace impeded upon multiple days of the week with varying hours both day and night for extensive periods of time. The incessantly loud music and yelling continue to be heard inside people’s homes, with doors and windows closed. We are unable to enjoy spending time outdoors during their meetings, children have difficulty getting to sleep, and this repeated noise is causing a significant amount of psychological stress to those in the surrounding area. Currently, 76% of the 2,002 petition signatures are those from local neighborhoods of Mt. Juliet, Green Hill, and Old Hickory. It is evident that this nuisance impacts a geographically large number of homeowners.

 

Considering the contentious tone taken by Greg Locke and GVBC, it is understandable that some may not feel completely safe bringing a personal lawsuit. Therefore, we are proposing a multiple-plaintiff lawsuit with a minimum of 100 people who are adversely affected by the noise. The egregious noise affects many surrounding subdivisions including Chandler Pointe, Normandy Heights, Cobblestone Landing, Hickory Hills, Brookstone, Radford Farms, Kelsey Glen, Mount Vernon Estates, and Willoughby Station. There are approximately 3,400 homes in the area and approximately 8,500 inhabitants. There should be an ample amount of participants with this dense population.

How loud is Greg Locke’s church to be heard from that far away? Is it intentional or is it incidental? At face value, it seems as though this church is especially loud and amplified to the broader world. It’s difficult to accidentally do that. The current building looks like a glorified tent which might serve as the only mitigating factor for the volume.

Greg Locke has since announced that Global Vision Bible Church has a new location secured after being at it’s current location since 2011.