Gregory Duane Locke (born May 18, 1976) is an American

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

. He is the founder of Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.

Early life

Locke was born in Donelson Hospital in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, in 1976. His father was incarcerated during Locke's early life, and his mother remarried when he was 5; Locke had a turbulent relationship with his stepfather. Following multiple arrests, Locke was sent to a children's home at the age of 15, where he converted to Christianity.

Career

Locke founded Global Vision Baptist Church in 2006. In 2011, the church officially split from the

Independent Baptist Independent Baptist churches (some also called Independent Fundamental Baptist or IFB) are Christian congregations, generally holding to conservative (primarily fundamentalist) Baptist beliefs. Although some Independent Baptist churches refuse ...

movement and changed its name to Global Vision Bible Church. In 2016 Greg Locke posted a Facebook video in which he criticized changes to Target's bathroom policy. As of April 2022, Locke's social media audience numbers in the millions. In September 2021, Locke was permanently suspended from Twitter, but his account was later reinstated. Locke kept his church open through outbreaks of COVID-19, and claimed that it was is a "fake pandemic". He said that those who wore masks to his church would be asked to leave, and discouraged his congregation from getting vaccinated. Locke was present during the January 6 attack on the Capitol. He encouraged his congregation to travel to Washington, D.C. and was apparently scheduled to speak before Trump at

the Ellipse The Ellipse (sometimes referred to as President's Park South) is a park south of the White House fence and north of Constitution Avenue and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Ellipse is also the name of the circumference street within th ...

; this did not eventuate, but Locke did preach at the Freedom Plaza on January 5, and near the Capitol steps during the riot. Afterwards, Locke condemned the violence, but maintained that it had been instigated by antifa. Locke has been a speaker at several stops on the

Reawaken America tour The ReAwaken America Tour is an American far-right and Christian nationalist political protest movement launched in 2021. Its rallies have promoted a variety of right-wing and far-right conspiracy theories, including COVID-19 misinformation, Stop ...

, which feature conspiracy theories about vaccines and the 2020 presidential election. On January 23, 2022, Locke claimed that OCD and

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

are "demonic possessions", which was condemned by neurodivergent rights movements and the Autism Faith Network. On February 2, 2022, Locke held a burning of "witchcraft" books from the ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this ...

'' and ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students a ...

'' series. During a sermon on February 13, he claimed to have discovered six witches within his congregation during an exorcism and threatened to expose their names.

Personal life

Locke met his first wife, Melissa Biggers, at Good Shepherd Children's Home while he was there as a ward of the state; Biggers was among the facility's staff. In 1995, Locke and Biggers became engaged. They have four children, two of whom are adopted. In January 2018, Locke confirmed in a video posted to Facebook that he and Biggers had separated, and the divorce was finalized in May. In 2018 Locke married Taisha (Tai) McGee, his administrative assistant and his ex-wife's best friend.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Locke, Greg Living people 1976 births People from Nashville, Tennessee American conspiracy theorists Baptists from Tennessee COVID-19 conspiracy theorists 21st-century Baptist ministers from the United States Independent Baptist ministers from the United States 21st-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Tennessee Protesters in or near the January 6 United States Capitol attack