The growing presence of Church International is palpable in Warrior, Alabama.

The town of roughly 3,200 north of Birmingham is quiet. But, for the past two and a half years, the independent, nondenominational church has been rapidly buying up land – totaling at least $6 million spent on about 20 parcels of property in the town since 2021 – sparking many residents to ask why.

Church representatives are expected to present their plans at a public zoning meeting tonight at Warrior City Hall.

Here’s what we know about Church International and its leap to fame:

Who leads Church International?

Married couple Robin R. Bullock, the pastor, and Robin D. Bullock, the prophet, lead the church. They grew up and met in Blount County, and married young in 1979. After pursuing a music career in Nashville as a gospel duo called Twice Robin, they started their ministry for youth, originally called Youth Force Ministries, in Warrior in 1988. Then, in 1996, they expanded to a full-fledged church called Church International. Their formal nonprofit became Youth Force Ministries Church International, Inc.

Read more: The mysterious church buying up a town in Alabama: ‘What is it about Warrior?’

The church went viral a few years ago. How?

Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, Robin D. Bullock spoke at Church International about his prophecies that former president Donald Trump would be re-elected and the Democratic Party would go underground. On Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters swarmed the U.S. Capitol as congressional Democrats counted electoral college votes, Robin D. Bullock attended the rally outside. His prophecies about politics and the election went viral on social media. Suddenly, the church had a much bigger reach, more church members and more money, Bullock has said through his attorney in court filings.

Alabama is investigating the church. Why?

Last December, the Alabama Department of Revenue subpoenaed Robin D. Bullock and requested financial records for the church and his biblical course program, called Over the Top Bible College. It was part of an ongoing investigation into “charitable fraud and self-dealing,” per court records. But Bullock did not provide fully unredacted documents, including donor names, so the state sued Bullock in late May. The case is active in Jefferson County court.

The church has been buying up property. Where? And what for?

Since early 2021, the church’s nonprofit made about a dozen deals for about 20 different pieces of property, county records show. A large furniture store including six separate parcels in Warrior cost $4 million alone, which is notable in a town this size. Another was the $400,000 house to be used as a church parsonage, where the Bullocks live. The church also spent another $2 million on a house and large property in neighboring Trafford, bringing their total land purchases to over $8 million in about two and a half years.

In a letter to Warrior Mayor Johnny Ragland, an attorney for the church said they want to “empower business visionaries to fulfill their dreams” in Warrior and lease their properties to new businesses. Bullock, through his attorney, also said in a court filing that the church plans to use the land to spread Christianity, open a domestic violence support center and prevent any abortion clinics from locating in Warrior.

Check out this map to see the full list of the church-owned properties.

What don’t we know?

IRS records don’t show any publicly available tax documents for Church International’s nonprofit in the past five years. That means we don’t know how much the church receives in donations – or exactly how it spends that money. We don’t know how the church is currently using all of its real estate, or if it has plans to buy more land.

What’s next?

So far, the state’s lawsuit against Robin D. Bullock is unresolved, with a status hearing scheduled for Nov. 3. Jefferson County Judge Brendette Brown Green hasn’t yet responded to the state’s request to hold Bullock in contempt for not responding in full to the subpoena and to order him to “provide a completely unredacted copy of the documentation.”