Gun-loving MAGA Church Rod of Iron Ministries buys sprawling property in Tennessee for ‘training facility’

The pro-Trump militant church group that uses AR-15s during services has purchased a 130-acre property in Tennessee with the goal of turning it into a sacred retreat and training center. The congregation, Rod of Iron Ministries, is led by devout conspiracy theorist Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon. Moon is known to wear a metal crown studded with polished bullets and a gold-plated semi-automatic rifle. Moon said in a recent online sermon that the Tennessee property triggered a “spiritual download” in him. “Many, many, many buses full of people are going to come and pray there,” Moon said, “and liberate the ancestors there. He added that he planned to build a theological school, an elementary school and a MAGA politicians incubator on the property.

The Moon Gun Enthusiast Sect is an offshoot of the larger organization known as the Unification Church, founded by Reverend Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah and father of young Moon. Elder Moon held ancestral liberation workshops known as “ansu,” intensive week-long trials that former church members said were spiritually and physically abusive. A spokesperson for young Moon told VICE News the Tennessee property would not “repeat … excesses” like the ansu. VICE News reported that a property they identified as Rod of Iron Ministries’ latest acquisition was listed at $ 460,000 on Zillow.