The Bad Pastors Podcast

In this Ministry Mantra episode of Bad Pastors , Bob Hyatt speaks directly to leaders navigating anxious, unsettled times. When the pressure is high and the noise is loud, it’s easy to forget a simple but grounding truth: whatever is happening now will not keep happening forever. This episode reminds pastors and ministry leaders that seasons change—both the good ones and the hard ones. Our calling...

What do you get when a Florida pastor starts quoting Luke 6:38 like it’s a financial prospectus? You get one of the biggest religious Ponzi schemes in American history. This week, we’re diving into the unbelievable story of Gerald Payne — the founder of Greater Ministries International , who promised believers their money would “double for the Kingdom”... and somehow forgot to mention it was being...

When a pastor has a secret life, it’s almost always a disaster. Almost. In this episode of Bad Pastors , we tell the true and wildly unexpected story of Fray Tormenta—a Catholic priest who secretly lived a double life for more than twenty years. By day, he celebrated Mass. By night...? Well, you'll have to listen and find out! But be prepared- you won't believe where this one goes!

Bill Hybels didn’t set out to become a bad pastor. He set out to reach people nobody else was reaching. And for a long time—he did. In this episode, we explore how one of the most influential pastors of the modern era built a movement that reshaped American church life… and how that same drive for excellence slowly created the conditions for harm. This isn’t a story of hypocrisy; it’s a story of i...

In this episode of Bad Pastors , we head to Brooklyn to meet Lamor Whitehead — the self-styled “Bling Bishop” who turned the pulpit into a platform, the platform into a brand, and the brand into a federal indictment. When faith meets flash and the side hustle starts looking holier than the gospel, what happens next isn’t just a scandal — it’s a sermon illustration. We’ll unpack how good intentions...

Aimee Semple McPherson was a trailblazer— a pioneering woman preacher, media innovator, and one of the most famous Christians in America. She healed the sick. She packed stadiums. She understood radio, branding, and spectacle before most churches trusted microphones. She also disappeared. In this episode of Bad Pastors , we tell the strange, fascinating, and occasionally unbelievable story of Aime...

Churches know how to draw a crowd. The harder question is what kind of faith that crowd is being formed into. In this Ministry Mantra episode, Bob Hyatt steps away from the wreckage and offers a formative reminder every pastor eventually learns the hard way: what you win people with is what you win them to. When churches rely on spectacle, hype, giveaways, or performance to grow, they quietly trai...

This week, on Bad Pastors , a very special Christmas episode… the true story of what happened when well-meaning, deeply serious pastors decided that Christmas was unbiblical, disorderly, and far too joyful to be trusted. In 17th-century England, sermons turned into policies, policies turned into bans, and before long, pastors had officially cancelled Christmas nationwide. What followed were riots,...

Before it became a respectable name on your dining room table, Oneida was something else entirely. In the 1800s, religious leader John Humphrey Noyes set out to build a Christian utopia — a community free from greed, jealousy, and possessiveness. What he actually built was the Oneida Community: a theological experiment where one man decided he had transcended sin… and therefore didn’t have to foll...

In this “Ministry Mantra” break from our usual tour of pastoral train-wrecks, Bob invites you to slow down, unclench your soul a bit, and consider a gentler, more Gospel-shaped way of leading. Instead of piling on another round of “you should be better,” this episode explores the freeing power of talking more about coulds than shoulds —the way grace opens possibilities rather than stacking burdens...

In this gripping conclusion to the James MacDonald story, we follow the seismic events that brought down one of America’s most influential megachurch pastors. From Julie Roys’ WORLD Magazine exposé to the leaked recordings, elder resignations, financial revelations, and MacDonald’s ultimate firing, this episode unpacks how a culture of fear, lack of accountability, and an unteachable spirit brough...

In this first episode of a two-part saga, we trace the dramatic rise of James MacDonald, founder of Harvest Bible Chapel, from a small gathering in a high school auditorium to a multi-campus evangelical empire with nationwide influence. Drawing from reputable investigative reporting, we explore the charisma, the certainty, and the high-intensity ministry culture that propelled Harvest into megachu...

In this episode of Bad Pastors , we explore the shocking case of Pastor Anthony Salgado, leader of New Life Christian Church and Academy in San Antonio, Texas. Once a trusted spiritual guide and school administrator, Salgado allegedly diverted roughly $700,000 of church and school funds for personal use, funding vacations, luxury items, and everyday expenses. We trace the unraveling of his leaders...

In this episode of Bad Pastors , we dive into the shocking true story of Pastor John Bishop, also known as John Wright, whose rise to prominence at Living Hope Church in Washington ended in a stunning fall from grace. Once a charismatic leader beloved by his congregation, Bishop’s life took a bizarre turn after he was removed from church leadership, culminating in a 2023 federal sentence for attem...