A minister in Tennessee, who banned his congregants from wearing masks, declared that they will stand their ground after the church was vandalized.
In a Facebook post, captured by The Christian Post, Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church (GVBC) shared that the vandalism occurred at dawn on Sunday.
“Our church was vandalized again last night. Security chased him off about 2:30am and it was all caught on our surveillance cameras. He did quite a bit a damage before he was spotted. Kuddos to some of our peeps getting there and beginning to clean at 3:00am this morning,” he wrote.
But he said that though the action saddened him, it only inspired him to fight even more.
“Of all the things they do, painting my pulpit not only grieves me the most, it fires me up to want to fight more. WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN. WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED,” he pointed out.
In July, Locke warned his congregants against wearing masks or risk being kicked out from the church.
“If they go through round two and you start showing up (with) all these masks and all this nonsense, I will ask you to leave. I will ask you to leave. I am not playing these Democrat games up in this church. If you want to social distance, go to First Baptist Church, but don’t come to this one.” he said.
Further, he criticized other pastors who declined to perform baptism due to fear of the virus.
The minister’s statement reportedly follows the resumption of wearing masks regardless of vaccination status. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) announced the recommendation due to the emergence of COVID’s Delta variant.
The center also suggested the same in schools. Thus, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged that everyone in schools, people who are more than two years old, must wear masks.
At the time, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that the advice was driven by the rise of infections, wherein even vaccinated individuals have contracted the virus.
Locke also aired his opposition over getting vaccinated, discouraging his church members to have it.
“I ain’t getting it. I ain’t promoting it. And I discourage everybody under this tent to get it,” he said in May.
Earlier this month, the pastor denounced Gov. Bill Lee over his Executive Order (EO) that relates to the state’s COVID response.
In a tweet, Locke said that the EO is a “slippery slope.” He also wrote that the governor has “lost [his] mind” and called him a coward.
But Lee’s office responded that the EO only refers to the provisions of hospital operations, which were already enacted before.
The GVBC was first reported to have gotten vandalized last year when Roger Stone, an ally of Donald Trump, was scheduled to speak in the church, testifying about his recommitment to Christianity after being convicted of various charges in 2019.
During that incident, several areas and properties of the worship center were damaged which cost around $5,000.
