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Evangelical pastor Jeff McCullough is serving a full-time mission. And while the online creator obviously doesn’t wear the iconic black name tag worn by thousands of missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world, he still believes he’s been called to serve.

With over three million views on “Hello Saints,” his increasingly popular YouTube channel, the 42-year-old McCullough is answering what he considers a divine call to build better bridges between Latter-day Saints and the evangelical community.

His profile description says it all. “This channel is devoted to fighting criticism with curiosity as I invite dialogue between Christians and Mormons. Are Mormons Christians? What do Christians and Latter-day Saints agree and disagree about? Join me as I compare and contrast the lifestyle, culture and beliefs of Mormons and mainstream Christianity.”

During a recent Zoom interview from his office in Belleville, Illinois, McCullough unfurled the story of his faith, professional career, a deeply personal path to the ministry, and today’s work as something of a spiritual liaison between two religious groups who too often misunderstand and misrepresent each other.

The first call

McCullough cannot recall the precise moment his faith was planted. But by the time he roamed the halls of his middle school in a sleepy farming town in southern Illinois, the seeds were in full bloom. “I remember the style of youth ministry that especially dominated the 80’s and 90’s,” McCullough said. “All of my friends, at some point, would go to a summer camp or something and come home saying, ‘I’m gonna be a youth pastor someday!’ That was me.”

What began as a daydream became reality in high school when McCullough launched his own Bible study. With a gathered group of mostly Catholic friends, McCullough led discussions about God, the Bible and their shared experiences. Already demonstrating a natural gift for leadership, the group even grew to include curious teachers. “It was just a beautiful, powerful experience to connect with people by going through the word of God.”

After high school, McCullough attended and graduated in 2003 from Greenville University, an institution associated with the Free Methodist Church in Greenville, Illinois. He left town with a deeper, more profound devotion to Jesus Christ. But he also had a brand new love in his heart — his girlfriend and future wife, Joy.

An inspired detour

Ready to start a family and a career, McCullough felt inspired to use his talents in audio and video production. Blended with his knack for marketing, he soon landed a gig with a booming e-commerce solutions provider in the Midwest.

In just five years, McCullough moved from an entry-level position to an advanced designer, to supervisor, to manager, to managing multiple teams, to being named director of design services. He wasn’t just climbing the corporate ladder, he was leaping from rung to rung.

The young gun was earning more trust, praise and money, but feeling less fulfilled. “I remember this one day when I had just let this guy go,” McCullough said. “I was still standing outside of HR and I’m wondering to myself, what am I really doing here? I felt totally unfulfilled and hollow. Like it’s all about the bottom line. It’s all about making money and sales cycles. But none of that meant anything to me anymore. We were tracking conversions,” McCullough added with a laugh, “but just sales, not people.”

That night, the McCulloughs began praying in earnest about a return to the ministry. The change would mean significant sacrifice by saying goodbye to higher pay and perks, but the young family knew the most lucrative benefits were yet to come.

Called to learn

Even while giving up his comfortable corporate life for full-time pastoral ministry, McCullough felt drawn to continue his professional development and to contribute his production and technical skills. Between raising their growing family, studying scriptures, writing sermons and ministering to members, McCullough helped a handful of friends launch a video production company.

The friends were already responsible for creating one of the original viral brands on YouTube and with the team McCullough honed his marketing chops. Then there were days when his colleagues were in the next room laughing and editing their latest online ad, while McCullough was editing a Sunday sermon on the other side of the wall.

When Covid-19 hit, McCullough began to understand more fully why he’d been led to wear both the pastoral and production hats. “It was no accident. Here I was pastoring a church and co-running a production company. So when it was time for virtual church, we didn’t miss a beat. I literally was able to slip on the camera and we just kept on going.”

As the pandemic wore on, both Jeff and Joy felt restless and trekked to visit friends in Salt Lake City. “My wife and I had been talking about whether it was time for some kind of change for us and our four children. And there we were, processing that with these evangelical friends in Salt Lake. And it was our very first visit there.”

During their stay, the McCulloughs’ friends made a strong case for Utah. “They told us we’d love the place and the people. They talked about the unique LDS church culture and spiritual climate. We learned that it’s like nothing else in America.”

Still, when it was time to visit local sites like Temple Square, McCullough insisted they’d prefer a hike to some religious or sociological exploration. “So off we went,” he said. “And I put it all out of my mind. I didn’t think anything else of it.”

Until he did.

Despite his best efforts, several months after that first visit to Utah, the invitation to get to know its culture, people and predominant faith was back in McCullough’s mind. “I don’t know how else to explain it other than the idea started rolling around in my head. Like maybe I should explore, learn more, meet some people. Check it all out.”

Looking back, McCullough sees God drawing and inviting him down a path. Trusting that the promptings were divine, McCullough began talking to pastors and other faith leaders in Utah. He also met many former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and began his first foray into understanding the faith. “The more I spoke to people, mostly less active and former members, the more I felt a bit of a Savior complex kick in. I was like, somebody needs to reach out to them! I mean, that’s the evangelical way.”

But as he broadened his reach and engaged with Latter-day Saints at all phases of their faith journeys, his mentality changed. “I really got into this. I learned from everyone, from totally devout to not at all. And I saw similarities to my evangelical friends who are also at very similar faith points.”

McCullough believes that was a turning point for viewing Latter-day Saints differently. “I started seeing more than a religion. I saw people. And that’s what changed everything for me. It’s so easy to slap a label like Evangelical, Mormon, Jew, Muslim. But I grew to love the people instead of the label and I loved learning what they believe. The more I had those conversations, the more I was just so struck that we are really similar in a lot of ways, very similar.”

“Hello Saints”

Fueled by this desire to better understand and to dispel myths, even if just for himself, McCullough launched his “Hello Saints,” channel to explore the LDS faith as a personal passion project. “It was November of 2021 and I was still busy with my ministry and production work, but I had made a few videos and I was ready to launch. Before I actually posted anything, my wife told me to wait because the holidays were coming and she wanted us to get to the first of the year.”

Joy was convinced the new channel was going to be bigger than Jeff imagined. “I thought she was crazy,” he said, adding that he expected a few hundred views per video. The truth is he would have been thrilled with those numbers, because it was never about attracting a large audience.

Leaning on his video production skills and an engaging, affable on-camera style, McCullough dove into exploring the faith and offering his reactions, often in real time. He averages two videos per month with headlines like:

“Christian Pastor explores the Mormon Church (Latter Day Saints)”

“Pastor Admits Past-Tendency to Bash Latter-day Saints“

“The Great Apostasy? Pastor Examines Mormon Teaching”

His other videos include reading and reacting to The Book of Mormon, a visit to a session of the Church’s General Conference in Salt Lake City and attending a local congregation’s sacrament meeting in the St. Louis area.

Along his journey, McCullough has met and become close friends with a number of online creators and podcasters who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among them is Kurt Francom of the popular podcast and website, Leading Saints. “He was the first to reach out to me when the channel launched and we’ve become good friends. He’s just so kind and non-pushy, disarming and knowledgeable. He’s one of my LDS friends that I really rely on to make sure I’ve gotten things right.”

McCullough believes that while he’s come to care for some of his new friends like Frankham very individually, he’s also learning to love the people as a whole. “Look, we are very, very different in a lot of ways. But it’s this weird juxtaposition of also how close we are. When I am around Latter-day Saints, I feel like they’re family. I feel like they’re these cousins who’ve lived on the opposite side of the world who I know very little about, but I want to. It makes this all really fun.”

When he considers his overarching mission, McCullough often refers to a belief that God calls the willing believer to a place, a people, or a purpose. “For me it started with the people. That’s what tipped the scales and I was like, I love these people! I want to get to know them. But then the purpose has become more clear with each new video. And that’s because there has not been a lot of successful interfaith conversation between Protestants and Latter-day Saints. And now, with the potential of my family relocating to Utah, it might also be a place. We’ll see. It’s exciting to think all three might be hit.”

Many of McCullough’s new friends in Utah and thousands of his YouTube subscribers often wonder what members of his home church and other friends think about this mission to better understand The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While some have expressed concern, most have been kind and supportive. “There has been a little bit of fascination. Things like, ‘Oh my gosh, this pastor is learning about the LDS Church. He’s actually reading through the Book of Mormon.’”

McCullough said some have suggested that members of the faith aren’t Christians. “A few even say the Mormons are going to hell. How am I supposed to respond to that?” McCullough asked before answering his own question with a laugh. “I say to them, but what if I don’t think they’re all going to hell?” Those voices are the exception, McCullough added, as most have been very supportive of his outreach and content.

Those who probe further and genuinely seek to understand McCullough’s motives are met with total transparency. He explains his deep desire for due diligence, to understand the faith and the people and to present them fairly. When he disagrees on doctrine, he politely says so in his videos. When he agrees, he builds a bridge. “I try to not take more responsibility than is necessary. I just like that we’re having conversations about what we believe and why we believe it.”

He often explains that he’s not viewing “Hello Saints,” through the lens of conversion. “I’m going to leave that decision in the hands of the person who is walking through this existence. Those decisions are between them and the Lord. I’m staying true to loving the Lord, loving others, treating others with dignity and brokering long overdue conversations about our beliefs. I’m giving their view, no more settling for tropes and caricatures and rumors. And, as long as there’s a willingness to have the conversation, I’m going to keep talking. This is really important to me.”

Since our initial interview, McCullough and his wife took another trip to Utah for a tour of the Saratoga Springs Temple during its public open house with their friend and advisor, Kurt Francom. The experience pushed McCullough well outside his comfort zone and according to early view counts and comments, his video detailing the experience seems to have been a hit with both members of the faith and McCullough’s evangelical subscribers.

As our Zoom interview drew to a close, McCullough touched on a favorite topic he’s taught many times. “This is all about spiritual reality. What is the spiritual reality when we put religion aside? What is the spiritual reality of each individual I interact with? Because that’s the most important thing in my life. Spiritual reality. Where am I? Where do I stand before the Lord? And it has nothing to do with whether I’m checking a certain number of doctrinal boxes. It’s based on what he has revealed. Have I stepped into a redemptive relationship with the Lord Jesus?” With or without a platform, those are the conversations McCullough is most interested in having.

McCullough also wondered what he’d say if he could only post one more video or message for his audience. “I’d say listen, we’re going to wrangle over doctrine, we’re going to wrangle over beliefs, we’re gonna wrangle over culture. But my enduring message is, look to the Savior. What do you see? Beliefs matter, they do. Our beliefs inform how we understand Jesus and how we see Him. But I think we can put the focus more on Jesus and let that transcend our differing beliefs. I think we constantly have to be driving to the Savior over anything else.”

Finally, as he offered a warm goodbye to our “Hello Saints” conversation, McCullough added his closing take on a favorite word — hope. “It’s what we’re all longing for. And no one and nothing brings a greater, deeper, more fulfilling existential hope than Christ. He is hope. His love is hope. That’s the real message at the end of the day.”

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