Becoming a Megachurch Pastor - Todd Phillips Pt. 1 | Ep. 2190

From Mormon Stories Podcast by Dr. John Dehlin

September 7, 2026 · 1h 57m

About this episode

The episode explores the journey of former megachurch pastor Dr. Todd Phillips as he navigates his loss of faith and the challenges to his beliefs.

What would cause a megachurch pastor to lose his faith? In this episode of Mormon Stories Podcast, we sit down with former megachurch pastor Dr. Todd Phillips to explore his journey from a new Christian searching for a fresh start, to becoming a pastor and ministry leader, preaching to crowds of 10,000 people or more. Todd grew up without a strong religious background, but after finding Christianity in his twenties, he quickly immersed himself in evangelicalism. He went on to become a preacher and pastor at McLean Bible Church in Washington, D.C., and Lakepointe Church in Dallas. He eventually went on to direct a multi-million dollar nonprofit called The Last Well, which worked to bring clean water and Christianity to the people of Liberia. Todd walks us through the beliefs that once shaped his worldview, believing in Christianity as the one and only path to God. He also shares what it was like to build his life around those beliefs, rise through evangelical ministry, and eventually encounter questions that challenged the foundations of his faith. Along the way, Todd and John compare evangelical and LDS theology, discuss megachurch culture, and explore interesting theological…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. John Dehlin

Guest: Dr. Todd Phillips

Topics covered

faith journey
megachurch culture
evangelicalism
theological questions
loss of faith
LDS theology

Keywords

megachurch
evangelicalism
faith
theology
Christianity
pastor
deconstruction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McLean Bible Church, Lakepointe Church, The Last Well

Places: Washington, D.C., Dallas, Liberia