‘God told me to move the church’: Mt. Juliet church announces moving plans amid lawsuits, noise complaints, traffic concerns

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — Global Vision Bible Church is moving following noise complaints, lawsuits, and traffic concerns.

One neighbor told News 2 she is relieved.

Global Vision Bible Church has been located in Mt. Juliet since 2007. As their church grew, services moved to outside tents, causing complaints from surrounding neighbors. Earlier this month, in a sermon , Global Vision Bible Church announced they are moving.

“God told me to move the church,” Pastor Greg Locke, Global Vision Bible Church, said. “But God, everybody likes the tent. God said, ‘I don’t care. I’m done with the tent.'”

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Mt. Juliet resident Kylie Blackett lives less than a mile from the church. Blackett said for years, since services moved to outside tents, every Wednesday and Sunday, the sound of drums and music has traveled to homes more than a mile away.

She has tried to find a solution by creating a petition for a noise ordinance in the area but city and county leaders have been able to do little about the problem.

“You mainly hear the drums like the vibrations; those seem to travel the furthest,” Blackett said. “We also hear screaming a lot of times and music in general.”

Blackett said this move by the church is long overdue.

“I’m relieved that the community is hopefully going to get some relief from this,” Blackett said. “But I will believe it when I see it.”

Blackett told News 2 she has also been concerned for the safety of churchgoers who have walked down the two-lane road during events, stopping traffic.

“They had offsite parking, but they all let out at the same time, so there were hundreds of people walking down Old Lebanon Dirt Road in the dark,” Blackett described. “And so the law enforcement officers in the area made the decision to shut the road down.”

In his sermon, Locke said the move comes after years of enduring neighbor complaints , six lawsuits , and people wanting to buy the property. “We already have a private sale…People want to put 100 townhouses on this land.”

“And God said, ‘Son, I am as tired of lawsuits as you are. I’m as tired of neighbors complaining as you are,'” Locke said.

Locke told the audience that the church was looking to forego a new location with tent church services. “They are hot in the summer, they are cold in the winter,” Locke explained. “There is nowhere to go and everything is literally outdoors.”

“God said, ‘It’s time for bathrooms; it’s time for heat and air,'” Locke added. “The museum, the church, the Spanish ministry, the kid’s rooms, Locke Media, all under one roof. God is just going to give it to us. I don’t know what it looks like. I believe it’s going to be a church. I don’t think it’s going to take us a long time.”

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Instead, Locke said the church would choose a warehouse or church building within a 12 to 15-mile radius of where it is now.

“I hope they find a building that is appropriate to accommodate large gatherings that is safe for their attendees and doesn’t cause such a disturbance to the surrounding community,” Blackett said. “I hope they take into consideration how they impact the surrounding community.”

But for now, the church said they will continue services at their current site until they find a new home.

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