Michael Todd (born November 16, 1986, in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American pastor, author, motivational speaker, and former music producer. Known publicly as Pastor Mike Todd, he is the lead co-pastor of Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, alongside his wife, Natalie Todd. He rose to national prominence through his viral “Relationship Goals” sermon series, which has accumulated nearly 30 million views on YouTube and became a number one New York Times bestselling book in 2020.
His follow-up, Crazy Faith (2021), was another bestseller. Since taking over Transformation Church in February 2015 from founding pastor Bishop Gary McIntosh, Todd has grown the congregation from a few hundred to over 5,000 in-person weekly attendees, with more than 20,000 joining online each week. He is widely considered one of the most culturally relevant young pastors in America and one of the most effective communicators of the gospel to a millennial and Gen Z audience.
Pastor Mike Todd At a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Michael Todd |
| Born | November 16, 1986, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA |
| Age | 39 (as of 2026) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Natalie Todd (married June 20, 2010) |
| Children | Isabella Monet; Ava Rae; Michael Alexander Todd Jr.; Gia Joy |
| Parents | Tommy Ray Todd (father); mother’s name not publicly disclosed |
| Siblings | Gabriel Todd (older brother); Brentom Todd (younger brother); one additional brother (name not publicly disclosed) |
| Height | Approx. 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Ministry & Career | |
|---|---|
| Title | Lead Co-Pastor |
| Church | Transformation Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Denomination | Non-denominational (Pentecostal-Charismatic leaning) |
| Lead Pastor Since | February 2015 |
| Books | Relationship Goals (2020); Crazy Faith (2021); Damaged But Not Destroyed (2022) |
| Net Worth | Estimated $5 million (unconfirmed) |
| Website | iammiketodd.com |
Early Life and Background
Growing Up in Tulsa
Mike Todd was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father, Tommy Ray Todd, raised him alongside his siblings in a home where church was part of the fabric of their lives. He has three brothers: Gabriel Todd (older) and Brentom Todd (younger), plus one sibling who has not been identified publicly. His mother’s name is not in the public record.
From an early age, Todd showed an aptitude for music. Before he was ever a pastor, he was a music producer working in the creative space of his home church. He started his career in ministry behind the soundboard, not behind the pulpit, and the production instincts he developed there informed every aspect of how he would later communicate from the stage. When you watch a Mike Todd sermon, the music, the pacing, the visual builds, the pop culture references, all of it was shaped by someone who spent years thinking about how sound and presentation carry a message to an audience.
Meeting Natalie
Mike Todd met his future wife, Natalie, at a mutual friend’s birthday party when he was 15 years old. They have described their story as a long journey from friendship to relationship to marriage. They got married on June 20, 2010. Natalie was born in 1989, making her a few years younger than Mike.
Their relationship story became foundational to his ministry. The “Relationship Goals” sermon series that launched his national profile was not abstract theology about marriage. It was built on what he and Natalie had actually learned, the hard lessons about how two people choose each other day after day. That is partly why it connected with 30 million viewers.
From Sound Guy to Pastor
Before becoming lead pastor, Mike Todd served Transformation Church under founding pastors Bishop Gary McIntosh and Pastor Debbie McIntosh in multiple capacities: music producer, sound engineer, and eventually worship and music ministry director. He produced music for Transformation Church’s conferences, including work with the late Dr. Myles Munroe, one of the most influential Christian leaders of the late 20th century.
He was not groomed for senior leadership from the outside looking in. He was someone who showed up, served well, and was trusted over time with more responsibility. When Bishop Gary McIntosh decided to pass the baton after 15 years of leading Transformation Church, he chose someone who had been inside the house, scrubbing the floor and running the soundboard, not someone imported from the outside.
Ministry Career
Taking Over Transformation Church
In February 2015, Mike Todd and Natalie Todd became the lead pastors of Transformation Church. He was 28 years old. He took over a congregation that had been built over 15 years by Bishop Gary and Pastor Debbie McIntosh, a predominantly white Pentecostal-Charismatic congregation in what many considered one of the harder neighborhoods of Tulsa.
Todd himself described the challenge directly. He said: “Being a young Black leader that took over for an established older White leader, in a more progressive/traditional Pentecostal-Charismatic church in the middle of what was considered by many the ‘hood’ of Tulsa, let’s just say the odds were stacked against us to see MULTI-ETHNIC church gatherings actually happen in real life.”
One of his primary emphases from day one was building a multiethnic congregation. He did not want to pastor a Black church that happened to be in a diverse neighborhood or a white church that happened to have a Black pastor. He wanted a congregation that actually looked like the city, and he built programming and culture around making that a reality.
Within months of taking over, he added a second service to accommodate overflow. Then he added online services. Then the YouTube numbers started climbing. By 2019 and 2020, Transformation Church was reaching over 20,000 viewers online each week, and the in-person congregation had grown to over 5,000 attendees.
The Relationship Goals Sermon Series
In 2016, Mike Todd preached a sermon series called “Relationship Goals.” The series dealt with dating, marriage, sex, boundaries, and what it actually looks like to build a relationship that is God-centered rather than culture-centered. He used props, pop culture references, movie clips, and personal testimony from his own marriage to Natalie. It felt nothing like a typical church sermon, which is exactly why it worked.
The series accumulated nearly 30 million views on YouTube. For a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with no major denomination behind it, that reach was extraordinary. The videos circulated across social media platforms well outside traditional Christian media channels. People who had never set foot in a church were watching and sharing a sermon about relationships from a pastor in Oklahoma.
The sermon series became the foundation for his debut book.
Books and Publishing
Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex was released in April 2020. It debuted at number one on Amazon and spent 13 consecutive weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers list. Over 36,000 Amazon reviews across his books collectively suggest somewhere between 1.8 million and 3.6 million copies sold across his catalog.
His second book, Crazy Faith: It’s Only Crazy Until It Happens, was released in September 2021 and was another bestseller. The premise is direct: faith that does not look slightly unreasonable to the people around you is probably not faith at the level God is asking for. He backed it with personal testimony, Scripture, and stories from the Transformation Church community.
His third book, Damaged But Not Destroyed, addressed what happens to people who have been broken by life, abuse, failure, or abandonment, and the pathway from damage to a life God can use. The book’s title became a sermon series and a broader ministry framework.
Additional published titles include companion workbooks: Relationship Goals Challenge: Thirty Days from Good to Great, Relationship Goals Study Guide, and Crazy Faith Workbook.
Social Media and Digital Ministry
Mike Todd grew his Instagram from a few hundred followers in 2019 to over 2 million by the early 2020s. His TikTok account, @iammiketodd, has accumulated 1.4 million followers. His sermons are consistently edited for short-form video distribution across platforms, not as a secondary strategy but as a primary one. He treats the internet as a congregation that extends far beyond the walls of the church building in Tulsa.
He has been described as one of the most SEO-conscious pastors in America, understanding that discoverability on platforms and search engines is the modern equivalent of standing on a street corner. His content strategy is built around findability as much as it is built around quality.
Personal Life
Marriage to Natalie Todd
Natalie Todd (born 1989) has served alongside Mike as lead co-pastor of Transformation Church since they took over in 2015. She is not simply the pastor’s wife in a ceremonial sense. She is a co-lead pastor in a formal, functioning sense, with her own ministry focus and her own public presence. She was born in 1989, making her approximately three years younger than Mike.
Their marriage is a central part of their public ministry. They have been open about the difficulties of building a life together under the pressure of public leadership, and their willingness to share the real struggles of a Christian marriage is one of the reasons their “Relationship Goals” content has resonated so widely. They are not presenting a polished version of marriage. They are presenting a worked-on version.
Children
Mike and Natalie Todd have four children: Isabella Monet (eldest daughter), Ava Rae, Michael Alexander Todd Jr. (son), and Gia Joy (youngest daughter). Their children appear regularly in family content the couple shares on social media, and Mike has spoken often about the responsibility of raising children under the visibility that comes with his platform.
Brothers in Ministry
Mike’s brothers Gabriel Todd and Brentom Todd are both involved in ministry and have been visible in various Transformation Church contexts. The Todd family has a clear culture of shared faith and shared work, which is consistent with how Mike describes his upbringing in a home where church was the center of family life.
Theology and Ministry Philosophy
Representing God to the Lost and Found
The official mission statement of Transformation Church under Todd’s leadership is to “represent God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ.” The phrase “lost and found” is deliberate. They are not just trying to reach people who have never heard of God. They are also trying to reach people who grew up in church, got hurt, drifted away, and are not sure there is anything there worth returning to.
Todd’s preaching style reflects this dual audience. He speaks to both the person who is completely unchurched and the person who knows every Sunday school answer but has never felt the reality behind them. His illustrations are drawn from pop culture, personal experience, and Scripture in roughly equal measure, and he is not apologetic about any of that.
Charismatic and Pentecostal Roots
Transformation Church has Pentecostal-Charismatic roots from its founding under Bishop Gary McIntosh. Todd has maintained those roots while expanding the church’s demographic reach and cultural accessibility. He believes in the active work of the Holy Spirit and preaches in a tradition that includes supernatural expectation, without the kind of rigid denominational identity that would limit who walks through the door.
Multiethnic Vision
From his first week as lead pastor, Todd made it clear that he wanted Transformation Church to be genuinely multiethnic, not just diverse in theory. He built that vision into the leadership team, the music, the preaching topics, and the community programming. The church has grown into one of the more racially diverse congregations in Tulsa, which is a city with significant historical racial tension.
Cultural Relevance Without Compromise
Todd’s approach to cultural relevance is specific: he will speak the language of the culture without adopting the values of the culture. He uses memes, movie clips, and current events as entry points into scripture, but the scripture is always the destination. He has been criticized by some more traditional voices for making church feel too much like entertainment. His response is essentially that the alternative, making the gospel feel irrelevant to people’s actual lives, is a far greater problem.
Controversies
The Spit Incident
In 2022, video went viral of Mike Todd preaching a sermon about healing and spitting on his hand before rubbing the saliva on another man’s face during a service. The act was meant to illustrate the story of Jesus healing a blind man using mud made with his own saliva, recorded in John 9.
The video spread rapidly, generating widespread criticism. Many pointed out the COVID-19 context in which it happened, calling the act reckless and unhygienic. Others criticized the broader use of dramatic and physical illustrations as a pattern that can distract from, rather than reinforce, the message of Scripture.
Todd posted a public video apology. He acknowledged that the illustration was “disgusting” and a “distraction” from the actual message he was trying to preach. He said that although Jesus performed a miracle with his spit, he himself did not have the same capability, and that he would rethink his illustrative choices going forward. He did not attempt to defend the act or reframe it as misunderstood. He simply apologized and moved on.
Transformation Church continued to grow after the controversy, suggesting that the incident did not fundamentally alter his congregation’s trust in his leadership.
Sermon Style Criticism
Beyond the spit incident, Todd has received ongoing criticism from some evangelical quarters for his use of secular music, movie scenes, and entertainment-style production in worship services. Critics argue that the line between cultural engagement and cultural compromise has been crossed in some cases. Todd has addressed this category of criticism consistently, arguing that the method is not the message and that accessibility is a pastoral responsibility rather than a theological concession.
Transformation Church: Overview
Transformation Church is a non-denominational congregation based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded by Bishop Gary McIntosh and his wife, Pastor Debbie McIntosh, and passed to Mike and Natalie Todd in February 2015 after 15 years of operation. The church describes itself as vibrant, multiethnic, and multicultural, with a stated mission of reaching the city of Tulsa and the world beyond it with the gospel of Jesus Christ in a relevant and progressive way.
Under Todd’s leadership, the church has grown from a few hundred weekly attendees to over 5,000 in person and 20,000 online. It operates a community outreach program, a pastoral care structure, and has expanded its digital ministry into one of the most-watched Christian content channels on YouTube.
The church has offered unique programming approaches, including a series titled “Wait Till I Get My Money Right” focused on tithing and financial stewardship, which resulted in approximately 250 people joining the church as tithers within a short period. That kind of practical, culturally named programming is characteristic of how Todd runs ministry: name the real issue people are actually thinking about, then bring Scripture to it.
Influence and Legacy
Mike Todd’s influence operates on two levels. Inside the church, he has built a model of multiethnic, culturally engaged, digitally distributed ministry that many younger pastors study and attempt to replicate. Outside the church, his books and viral sermons have reached audiences that would never identify as churchgoers, introducing them to the gospel through content that speaks their language before it asks them to speak the church’s language.
His “Relationship Goals” book spending 13 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, debuting at number one on Amazon, is not a normal outcome for a pastor from Tulsa with no major denominational marketing machine behind him. It happened because his content connected with people’s actual lives, which is the outcome of years of sermon series built on pastoral attentiveness rather than theological abstraction.
He is part of a generation of pastors that includes T.D. Jakes as a generational elder and reference point, who have demonstrated that Black pastoral leadership can reach national and global audiences from mid-sized cities without requiring the machinery of a coastal megachurch or a denominational headquarters.
Pastor Mike Todd Net Worth
Pastor Mike Todd’s net worth is estimated at approximately $5 million as of 2024, according to multiple third-party sources. His income comes from book royalties, speaking engagements, church salary, and various ministry-related revenue streams. His books have collectively received over 36,000 Amazon ratings, suggesting a catalog-wide readership in the millions. These are estimates; he has not publicly confirmed a specific figure.
Awards and Recognition
- Number one New York Times bestselling author for Relationship Goals (2020)
- Relationship Goals debuted at number one on Amazon and spent 13 consecutive weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers list
- “Relationship Goals” sermon series: nearly 30 million views on YouTube
- Transformation Church recognized as one of the fastest-growing congregations in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Over 2 million Instagram followers; 1.4 million TikTok followers
Interesting Facts About Pastor Mike Todd
- Before becoming lead pastor, he was the sound engineer and music producer at Transformation Church. He started ministry behind the soundboard, not behind the pulpit.
- He met his wife Natalie when he was 15 years old at a mutual friend’s birthday party.
- He took over as lead pastor at age 28, one of the youngest lead pastors of a major congregation in Tulsa’s history at the time.
- He produced music for church conferences alongside the late Dr. Myles Munroe before transitioning to pastoral leadership.
- His “Relationship Goals” sermon series was preached in 2016. The book it inspired was not published until 2020, four years after the original series. In between, the YouTube videos were building toward 30 million views.
- He publicly described the challenge of being a young Black pastor taking over from an established white founding pastor in a Pentecostal church in Tulsa, calling it a situation where “the odds were stacked against us.”
- He apologized publicly and without excuse for the spit incident of 2022, calling his own action “disgusting” and a “distraction.”
- Transformation Church’s “Wait Till I Get My Money Right” series on giving resulted in approximately 250 new tithers joining the church.
Note on the Name “Mike Todd”
Several keyword searches associated with “Mike Todd” reference a completely different historical figure: Mike Todd the film producer (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen, June 22, 1909), who was married to actress Elizabeth Taylor, and who died in a plane crash on March 22, 1958, when his plane “The Lucky Liz” crashed in New Mexico. He was 48 years old at the time of his death. That Mike Todd was a Broadway and Hollywood producer famous for the film Around the World in 80 Days. He is a separate person with no connection to Pastor Mike Todd of Transformation Church. If you are searching for the historical Mike Todd, see the FAQ section below for a brief summary.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Born November 16 in Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| ~2001 | Meets Natalie at a mutual friend’s birthday party at age 15 |
| Early 2000s-2014 | Serves Transformation Church as sound engineer, music producer, and worship/music ministry director under Bishop Gary and Pastor Debbie McIntosh |
| June 20, 2010 | Marries Natalie |
| February 2015 | Appointed lead co-pastor of Transformation Church alongside Natalie; takes over from founding pastor Bishop Gary McIntosh |
| 2016 | Preaches “Relationship Goals” sermon series; videos begin accumulating millions of YouTube views |
| 2019-2020 | Transformation Church grows to 5,000+ weekly in-person attendees and 20,000+ weekly online viewers |
| April 2020 | Publishes Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex; debuts at #1 on Amazon; spends 13 weeks on NYT Bestsellers list |
| September 2021 | Publishes Crazy Faith: It’s Only Crazy Until It Happens; another bestseller |
| 2022 | Spit incident goes viral; Todd issues public video apology; publishes Damaged But Not Destroyed |
| Ongoing | Continues as lead co-pastor of Transformation Church; Instagram surpasses 2 million followers; TikTok at 1.4 million followers |
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Pastor Mike Todd?
Pastor Mike Todd was born on November 16, 1986. He is 39 years old as of 2026.
How old is Pastor Mike Todd’s wife?
Natalie Todd was born in 1989. She is approximately 36 to 37 years old as of 2026. She serves as lead co-pastor of Transformation Church alongside her husband and has been in ministry leadership since they took over the church in February 2015.
How many children does Pastor Mike Todd have?
Pastor Mike Todd and Natalie Todd have four children: Isabella Monet (eldest daughter), Ava Rae (second daughter), Michael Alexander Todd Jr. (son), and Gia Joy (youngest daughter).
What is Transformation Church?
Transformation Church is a non-denominational, multiethnic Christian congregation based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded by Bishop Gary McIntosh and his wife, Pastor Debbie McIntosh, and led by Mike and Natalie Todd since February 2015. The church reaches over 5,000 people in weekly in-person services and more than 20,000 viewers online each week.
What books has Pastor Mike Todd written?
Pastor Mike Todd has written several books including Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex (2020, number one New York Times bestseller), Crazy Faith: It’s Only Crazy Until It Happens (2021), and Damaged But Not Destroyed (2022). He has also published companion workbooks for the Relationship Goals and Crazy Faith series.
What happened with the spit controversy?
In 2022, a video went viral showing Pastor Mike Todd spitting on his hand and rubbing the saliva on a man’s face during a sermon, as an illustration of the biblical account of Jesus healing a blind man using mud and saliva (John 9). The video drew widespread criticism, particularly in the context of COVID-19 concerns. Todd issued a public video apology, calling the act “disgusting” and a “distraction” from his message, and said he would reconsider his illustration choices going forward.
Who was the original Mike Todd (the film producer)?
Mike Todd the film producer (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen, June 22, 1909) was an American Broadway and Hollywood producer best known for the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days. He was married to actress Elizabeth Taylor, his third wife. He died in a plane crash on March 22, 1958, when his plane, “The Lucky Liz,” went down over New Mexico. He was 48 years old. He is a completely separate person from Pastor Mike Todd of Transformation Church and shares only the name.
How old was the original Mike Todd when he died?
The film producer Mike Todd was born on June 22, 1909, and died on March 22, 1958, in a plane crash in New Mexico. He was 48 years old at the time of his death.
Is Pastor Mike Todd the same as Michael Todd the film producer?
No. They are entirely different people who share the name Mike Todd. Pastor Mike Todd (born 1986) is a living pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Michael Todd the film producer (1909-1958) was a Broadway and Hollywood producer from a different era, best known for his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor and his death in a 1958 plane crash. There is no family or professional connection between them.
Read Also
- T.D. Jakes Biography
- Joel Osteen Biography
- Bishop David Oyedepo Biography
- Rick Warren Biography
- Paul Adefarasin Biography
