Pastor Greg Locke has said he feels "more free than I have ever been" after his Tennessee megachurch shrank from thousands of worshippers to a congregation of just a few hundred.
In a post on social media, the Global Vision Bible Church pastor reflected on the challenges of leading a large church, describing a period when his ministry drew thousands of people to services held under a large tent.
"There was a time when our 'tent' church shook with three thousand voices," Locke wrote.
He said the church had once appeared successful from the outside, but described the pressure of leading a fast-growing ministry.
"Mega church can feel less like shepherding and more like performing for an audience that will leave the moment the production value drops or something brighter comes to town," he wrote.
Locke also reflected on a series of personal and legal challenges, including what he described as "federal investigations, including a terrifying house raid", multiple lawsuits, vandalism, death threats and the death of his 20-year-old son, Evan, who died from a drug overdose in May.
"Everything that could be shaken was shaken," he wrote. "The crowds thinned. The noise got quieter. The stage got smaller. And somewhere in the middle of the loss I discovered something I never expected to feel again. Freedom."
Locke said his church now attracts around 300 to 400 people on a typical Sunday, but insisted he had found renewed purpose in ministry.
"We are pastoring a few hundred truly dedicated people now, Three hundred. Maybe four hundred on a strong Sunday," he said. "And I am not less happy. I am not less called. I am not less anointed. I am actually more free than I have ever been."
He added: "The anxiety of managing the appearance of greatness is gone. The performance is over. What is left is a remnant that actually wants Jesus more than they want a production. A people who will stay when the lights are dim and the only thing left is the Word and the Spirit."
Earlier this month, Locke revealed that federal investigators and local law enforcement had searched his home as part of what he said was a nearly two-year investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement.
The Wilson County Sheriff's Office confirmed it assisted the Internal Revenue Service in executing search warrants at Locke's home and another location, although the church itself was not searched. Locke has denied wrongdoing, and no charges have been announced.
