MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Who is Michael Todd? Pastor who rubbed spit on Tulsa churchgoer trolled online

'God wasn’t nowhere in that,' slams internet after reports Oklahoma pastor rubbed his spit on the face of a churchgoer amidst a pandemic

Pastor Michael Todd of the Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma might have forgotten that there's a pandemic going on currently. According to reports, the pastor rubbed his spit on the face of a churchgoer on January 16, 2022, completely ignoring all the precautions we've been taking for years. The news quickly went viral on social media, leading to a large number of memes and jokes, while others condemned the pastor's actions.

As we've reported, several pastors have chosen to ignore Covid-19 restrictions, and tragically paid the price. In September 2021, the pastor of the Denver Bible Church Bob Enyart succumbed to Covid-19, months after opposing masks and vaccines. Likewise, Pastor Tim Parsons in Kentucky too died from Covid-19 after running in-person congregations back in August 2021. Luckily, Danny Reeves in Texas recovered, turning him from an anti-vaxxer to a strong proponent of vaccines. 

RELATED ARTICLES

Rev Jeffrey Whittaker: Michigan pastor accused of mocking man who died of Covid: 'He died…because he has no faith'

Who is Stewart-Allen Clarke? Pastor asks women to be 'attractive' as men marry them for sex, slammed as sexist

It's unclear what Todd's stance on vaccines and masks is, but judging by his bizarre actions at the congregation, it appears he too has little concern for Covid-19. While delivering his message "receiving a vision from God might get nasty", he decided to get literal, much to the disgust of his congregation, and social media.

Who is Michael Todd?

Married to Natalie Todd since 2010, Michael and his wife have run the Transformation Church since February 2015. He first went viral in 2016 for his series "Relationship Goals" with Natalie, which he also turned into a book of the same name. Todd's website claims the book "debuted at number 1 on Amazon and spent 13 straight weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List." He has followed up on that success with another book titled 'Crazy Faith', due to release in September 2022. 

Apart from being a father to four children and leading the highly popular Transformation Church, Todd and his wife have also spoken at various national and international events. Despite that, they've also grown the church from its humble beginnings, adding thousands of virtual followers and a large real estate portfolio. Tulsa World reported the church a local event center for $10.5 million in 2019, followed by a retail center for $20.5 million in 2020. 

When he first took over the church in 2015, Todd raised $8,300 which he donated to other churches. "I wanted us to be a generous church," he said. The act laid the foundation for Todd and the church's phenomenal growth in the years to come. "We barely had any money coming in at the time," he conceded. But by 2021, the church spent around $66 million to acquire real estate, while continuing to donate for a large number of causes, including to the three known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

'We're in the last days'

All that goodwill though was temporarily pushed to the side thanks to Todd's bizarre behavior on January 16. Reportedly, it was Todd's own brother who volunteered for the task and had his face rubbed with spit to reinforce Todd's message. Despite the shocked reactions of the congregation, he doubled down on the claims adding, "What I’m telling you: how you just reacted is how the people in your life will react when God is doing what it takes for the Miracle.” Here's a video of the incident:

In response, one Twitter user said, "Had never heard of “Pastor” Mike Todd before today. But I truly understand now why the elders used to frequently tell us that we’re in the last days." Another memed, "Going viral takes on new meaning.. Pastor Mike Todd has a spit fetish." One person tweeted, "I don’t know who needs to hear this, but this is demonic and manipulative. Mike Todd even tried to manipulate the crowd into feeling bad over reacting to him dehumanizing a man live on stage. We’re watching abuse and humiliation to boost another’s ego and profile. Disgusting." Another said, "Pastor Mike Todd is doing Jesus really wrong."

Plenty of memes also ensued, with one user reacting, "Just saw why Mike Todd is trending and I— God wasn’t nowhere in that." Another uploaded a photo of Kamala Harris, tweeting, "When the angels in heaven saw what Mike Todd did." One person joked, "What is the CDC going to do about Mike Todd?"