Pastor Greg Locke says his family was awakened to a nightmare after dozens of armed federal agents allegedly stormed his Tennessee home in a dramatic pre-dawn raid tied to allegations involving church finances and child trafficking.
Speaking to his congregation at Global Vision Bible Church on Sunday, July 12, Locke broke his silence about the operation, saying it happened several weeks earlier while he was on a six-week sabbatical following the overdose death of his 20-year-old son, Evan.
"This is the only time that I will publicly talk about it," Locke told church members. "I will not give any interviews. I will not respond to any news media. I will not post anything on social media because I'm not in fight mode, nor am I in flight mode. I'm in faith mode."
According to Locke, approximately 60 federal agents surrounded his home at around 6 a.m. before battering down the front door.
"I've got kids in the house. Don't shoot," he recalled yelling as officers entered the home.
The outspoken pastor claimed agents forced his wife outside in her nightclothes, pulled three of his children from their beds, and held his son Malachi against a wall with an AR-style rifle while they searched the property.
Locke said agents spent about three hours inside the home before explaining they were investigating years of online allegations accusing him of misappropriating church funds and involvement in child trafficking.
"I was so shocked in the moment," he said. "I said, 'A phone call wouldn't have sufficed?'"
According to Locke, investigators served two search warrants-one for his home and another for Locke Media-while also delivering a subpoena to Global Vision Bible Church.
He claimed the raid followed what he described as a private investigation lasting nearly two years.
"A private year-and-a-half, two-year investigation with no arrest warrant, only search warrants, because they were told our home was filled with all the things that we had stolen," Locke said. "It's a pre-dawn raid. We didn't know they were coming."
Although he refused to identify the federal agency involved, Locke insisted he was speaking publicly only because the investigation had thrown both his family and church into turmoil.
"I'm not looking for people to come up, 'Oh yeah, we'll fight for you.' No, we fight for the Lord. We fight for truth. We fight for righteousness."
The pastor maintained that investigators would discover Global Vision Bible Church had been generous rather than financially self-serving.
"They don't know what to do with a church like ours that's given all the money away through the years," he said.
Locke also claimed agents seized phones, computers, electronic devices, financial records and even his personal "generosity journals," which he said documented years of charitable giving.
"They took our phones, downloaded everything out of them. They took all of our computers, our devices," he said. "Three hours went by-three of the most earth-shattering, humiliating hours of our life-and they left with a little tiny box of...a few bank statements."
He said agents searched nearly every inch of the property, including bedrooms, attics, sheds and even the family's chicken coop.
The investigation has also reportedly created financial headaches for the church.
Locke claimed Global Vision's bank accounts were closed as a result of the investigation, forcing the ministry to operate without normal banking services.
"I don't know how we have operated this church for two weeks with no income and no outflow," he said, adding that he plans to remove himself from the church payroll while church leaders continue serving without pay.
According to Locke, church staff are now gathering "tens of thousands of documents" dating back to 2020 after investigators requested six years of financial records.
He also alleged that federal investigators have subpoenaed former missionaries, donors and others connected to the ministry over claims that the church was involved in child trafficking.
"Some of you have probably already received letters or phone calls," Locke said. "They've subpoenaed everybody you can imagine...because they were told that we are trafficking children."
Locke repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting investigators would ultimately find no evidence of wrongdoing.
"We have nothing to hide, and they're figuring that out," he told the congregation.
Unlike previous controversies that have surrounded his ministry, Locke said he has no intention of launching a public fight against investigators, claiming God instructed him to remain silent.
"I could have went live the first day it happened and caused riots in the streets with the size of our platform," he said. "But the Lord said, 'No...I'll vindicate you. You don't have to fight them.'"
Federal authorities have released few details about the investigation. The FBI's Nashville Field Office has said it was not involved in the raid, while the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee has declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation. No criminal charges against Locke or Global Vision Bible Church have been announced.
