This episode is a real and grounded conversation on faith, purpose, and what it actually looks like to serve people in everyday life. I sit down with Pastor Toby Teague to talk about leading in a small community, the weight and beauty of being there for people through all seasons, and how faith isn’t always loud—but it’s always present. This is about connection, calling, and finding meaning right where you are.

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Conversations with Kate is like a conversation with your friend, hairstylist or therapist, where we will talk about music, life stories and everything in between with interviews and guests sprinkled in. I am your host, Kate. Let's get into this episode.

All right. Welcome into this episode. The power of presence Leading faith in a small town. I have guest Toby Teague. Welcome in, Toby.

Thanks, Kate.

So glad that you're here. So I want to start talking about your origin story. So where did the title pastor come into your life?

Like, at what juncture was it when you were younger? Teen, adult?

When I was 16, I officially, like gave my heart to God.

Okay.

That would be a podcast on its own. But a few months after that, I just felt a call that maybe this is what I was supposed to do with my life.

And then my pastor and mom teamed up, we went to summer camp. And so they entered me in the preaching contest but didn't tell me, oh, that's funny. Until the after. And he's like, hey, you're gonna preach.

And I went to my mom, he wants me to preach it. I'm not gonna preach. Cause I didn't talk. Like, I didn't talk at the table, I didn't talk in class. I was the kid who hid.

Right.

I was very quiet.

Okay.

I had a lot of. I was born with a cleft palate.

Okay.

So always had a lisp my entire life.

Okay.

Can't tell that's because of the plate.

Oh, gotcha. Okay.

And they fixed it when I got older and so nothing to do with it. And then I went, won first place, you know, and when I spoke at my church for the first time, they were all like, who is this kid?

It just a little bit after that I just felt like that's what I was supposed to do.

Okay, okay. What is it like in your life on a day to day basis? So a little bit of background. Toby is the pastor in the town that I live in.

Run me just really quickly through one of your days.

Okay. Well, I get up and as you know, I do the crossing guard for the city.

So I get up, do that, stand on the corner and have conversations with kids as they go to school. Parents yell out windows and they all love you. Parents yell out windows at me, everything else.

And then on a normal day, it's just checking on people.

I'll go to lunches at one of the schools usually and hang out, help take out trash, wipe tables, and then we run a youth garage for a couple of hours in the afternoon. And then in the evenings, it's starting to think through what's coming on Sunday, what I need to do.

This last year I spent a lot of time writing a 40 day devotional for our church. And it changes day to day. Some days there's funerals and some days I'm getting a call from the school because something went on and you got.

To go in and counsel. Yes.

And just be there with the kids and the teachers. And it's. People call out of the blue to talk about things and try to figure things out.

Okay.

And I'm fortunate I don't have to spend a lot of time every week putting together the talk for Sunday.

Okay.

Those come pretty quick. They. I don't know.

It just comes to you.

Yeah, it just. And we try to be pretty basic and oriented towards life.

Okay.

You know, and they're crazy at times. I mean, I do a thing called Gospel fm.

What's that?

We take a song off the radio, play it in church and then talk about it.

Oh, I like that.

And how God relates to it. We've done over like 48 songs.

That's great.

Yeah. I mean, we played Hell's Bells in church.

Ooh.

And I love this bar.

Oh, my gosh. That's wonderful.

Who are you?

Okay.

It's just.

And how was that received by the congregation?

They love it.

That's.

So they've started now. They send me songs.

Oh, that they would want you to do. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Do you have. Aside from Sundays, do you have a favorite day of the week as far as your routine is concerned?

Every day.

Okay. I like that.

I like my job.

Okay.

I know a lot of past, you know, like they say 65% of pastors want to leave and not be pastor anymore. And I've never felt that way.

That's wonderful to hear. That is wonderful to hear.

So for me, I spend a lot of time with kids, so it may.

Be that, I mean, they are pretty cool. I'm not gonna pa. See, the funny thing is, is that, well, you know, Autumn is going to be. They offered her a parapro position for Leslie.

So she will be there. And she is all for the elementary specific age. And I am like when I retire from here at 62, I'm in college level. I want to be with the adults.

I want to be with the technically like baby adults from 18 plus.

Right.

But still adults to teach them. But. But kids. However, like a lot of the people that we've had the blessing to have as a part of our day to day lives in the Salon.

It's so great to see life through their lens, and even when it's, like, the struggles that some of the preteens and teens deal with and stuff like that. My next question for you is, who is Toby beyond the title of pastor?

The quiet kid that sits back. And I like to read a room.

Okay.

I love nothing more than just listening to other people and then asking them questions and trying to figure out how did they get where they are.

Okay.

You know, I'm an avid sports fan.

Okay.

I mean, I get.

Who's your favorite basketball team?

Favorite basketball team? They just lost, uh. Oh, Spurs. Oh, no, that was since I was 11. Living. Growing up in Texas.

Okay.

George Gervin, Michigan. People cannot hate me. He's from Eastern Michigan University.

Okay.

Grew up in the.

Is that one of the players or is it the coach?

A long time ago. He was. Back when I was a kid, he played. I have an autographed poster from him.

See, I'm a Celtics fan, but that's because I was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts, so that's. I'm not a fair weather fan.

I won't hold it against you.

All the New England teams, those are my teams. And no matter what, like, Autumn has her favorites as well. Who's your favorite baseball team?

The Rangers.

Okay.

Ever since they started.

Oh, really?

Yeah. We lived about 10 miles from the stadium.

That's one point.

So. But I didn't go see a game until I was 27.

What? Why?

My parents didn't like sports.

Oh, okay. What were your parents into?

I'm not sure.

Okay.

Working.

Okay, fair enough.

Working and making sure we worked.

Yes, fair enough. Fair enough. So talk about your life before Michigan.

Grew up in Texas.

Okay.

Fort Worth and Lubbock.

Okay.

So big city and then sort of a big city.

Yeah.

But like, honest Texas.

Okay.

It's not like. I know it's always called Fort Worth. Dallas.

Yes.

Or Dallas. Fort Worth.

Yeah.

Completely. Two opposite cities.

Right.

Nothing alike.

Dallas and Fort Worth.

Yeah.

I agree. Because I've been to Dallas and Fort Worth, and they are completely different.

Right?

They are. Yes.

Fort Worth was cowboys. I can remember as a kid, you could tell when the cattle were coming in downtown to the stockbridge, to the stockyards. Because it stunk.

Okay.

All you could smell was cows, you know? Then moved to West Texas, and it was cotton and cows.

Wow.

And so.

And that's when you lived in Lubbock. Okay.

Moved there in fifth grade.

Okay.

Left there in 85.

What brought you to the tiny little town of Leslie.

We worked at a church in Fort Worth after I got out of school, and it was about to go through a church thing. A church fight.

Oh, gotcha.

Fight. Because one of the guys.

So if it's about to be a girl fight, it's about a church fight.

Yes.

All right.

It happens more than it should, really. And so I was just like.

I was praying to God, and I was like, you got to get me out of here, because I think they both should be fired and just let me have the church.

Right.

But I didn't know how to say.

And it was in. It was in your church. There was two people. Yep.

I was a member. Yep. It was the pastor and then the dude who led music.

Okay.

So we'd only been there, like, four months, but I could see it coming.

Yeah.

He was, like, trying to work. He tried to work his ways with me, and I told him I would throw him out my office window, so.

You're so real, Toby.

I did.

I mean, yes. Yes.

And so my wife grew up in Leslie.

Okay.

She was an Isham.

Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah.

And so her mom called one Sunday afternoon after it was, like, a tense thing at church, and she's like, hey, this pastor's leaving. Toby should send his resume up. To which Shelley laughed because Shelly got out of Leslie and said she'd never be back. Oh.

And so I was like, well, why not? Let's do it. And so.

And the Ishams are great people.

Yeah. Three months later, we were moving.

Wow.

Moving up here to a church of 21 people.

Wow. What's the attendance now?

140.

Whoa. Okay. All right.

You know, Easter is always like this. Last Easter was 275 people.

Wow. You can fit that many people in the church?

No, we had to have two services.

Okay.

Yeah. Don't tell the fire marshal.

I won't. It's our secret.

Yeah.

You are not listening.

Well, they already know.

Yeah. I mean, fair. We know them.

I'm friends with all of them.

Yeah, exactly. Same. Same.

And they come to the church.

One of their wives, and then one of the. One of the younger. Younger firefighter. The redhead. What's his name?

Dakota.

Yes. Dakota. Yeah.

Yeah. He would never. I baptized him.

Did you really?

Yeah. So he.

He's such a good kid. He's such a good kid.

I didn't say that, though. That's Koda. She said it.

What makes leading in a small town different than from, like, the church in Texas, for one.

I can get involved in the community more here, I think. I don't know, it's always been my great. Like I went over to Charlotte the other day to do a funeral.

Yeah.

And I. Pulling into town, I thought, okay, could I pastor a church in Charlotte like I do in Leslie, you know, or what about East Lansing? Or Lansing?

And I think it would be harder to get. I don't think it would be as hard to get involved. You just get involved.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? I mean, I can walk into any of our schools and go to lunch. I mean, they call me when something happens.

But that all started because I went to lunch and wiped tables and empty trash.

That's great.

And our church serves the town. I mean, the last 16 years, our church has put over $300,000 into the town.

I love that. That's how it should be. Really? And truthfully, honestly? Yes.

Yeah, I think so. And so I think it would be harder to have like as an. Can I use the word intimate?

Yes.

As intimate an impact.

Yes.

In a bigger town. But I think that you could, if you truly wanted to.

You know, like, I would like to figure out what these big name boys, you know, what do they say about you in your town?

Right. Honestly, coming from a larger city salon to the smaller town, I have to agree with you on some level with that because I have the last.

This December will be eight years. I think that I've been at the spa and it's a completely different ball game.

There is so much more connection with the community, with the community members. And not that there's not a connection.

Right.

In, in the larger cities, but in a smaller community, it's, it's completely different because I see, you know, not only. Well, officially now I'm just, you know, Ms. Autumn's mom.

Right.

But, but also, you know, I've gone through several life events with multiple people. I, you know, don't necessarily do everybody's hair, but sometimes I do just their kids hair.

And I've seen them through elementary, middle and high school or high school, or middle school, high school. And now they're married and have kids and that kind of thing.

And it's just a, it's a more like you said, it's a more intimate type of relationship with the community, whereas in the bigger cities, you know.

Yeah. And you would have to have like the big, big church there to get anybody to pay attention to you.

Yes, I agree. I agree. What does the human side of being a pastor mean to you?

To me, it's being there for people more than anything else. I mean, when I went to seminary. We went through the four years, and they didn't like me.

Why?

Because I. Well, I am who I am.

Okay.

And I didn't play their games,.

So.

I would ask questions.

So there's corporate America in that realm too. Okay.

Yeah. I would ask questions. They didn't. I was told not to ask questions in class.

Oh, okay.

Yep. You know, because I would ask. I wanted to know.

Yeah.

I was like, if I'm gonna do this for a living, I want to know the truth.

Yes.

And so when I do it now, the biggest compliment I ever get is whether, you know, there was a guy that I had been talking to at Crossroads for a long time about coming to church.

Yes.

And, you know, we would sit and have a beer and talk about church. Talk about God.

Yes.

And so when he finally came to the church and visited, when he was leaving, he looked at me, he goes, you know what, Toby? He goes, you're the same here as you are at Crossroads.

Yeah.

And to me, that's just be who you are.

Yes.

You know, and I'm not smart enough to have all these hats, so you.

Just are who you are, no matter what, no matter where you're at.

If you like me, you like me. If you don't, well, it's not that hard.

I don't think I've ever heard anybody say a cross word about you. You know, I know we are all human, but that.

With that being said, how do you handle the pressure, expectations, or emotional weight of being in the position that you're in?

I remember that it's nothing compared to what Christ carried for me.

That's awesome. What a great way to say that. That is absolutely the truth, too, you.

Know, I mean, he did nothing and took all my sin.

That's correct. That is correct.

And if it was. And this is going to sound completely awful, and this is why they didn't like me in seminary.

Oh, I want to hear if it's.

Too much, go sell cars.

Ooh, I like that. It's the truth, though.

I know it is.

It is a 10 out of 10 the truth.

I know, but I sound like a jerk when I say it.

No, I think that that brings a lot of reality to things that people just don't want to. The truth that people don't want to. To face when it comes to something like that.

What?

Tell me one story, and then I'm going to ask you a couple of closing questions. Tell me one story of impact that stands out above all of the others. Just one.

Okay. It'll Be quick. I'll tie two together. Okay. Because I was asked a while ago at the school, they had professional days.

Yes.

And so the kids asked me, what was your best day and worst day?

Okay.

And so I said, okay, I'll tell you. I said, my best day is always when I did a wedding for two kids I coach basketball for.

And I did their wedding, and to be able to stand up and help them begin their married life together. And they both coached with me at times, and we talked for those two years, and they would just talk about their relationship.

Yes.

So to get it, to watch it, to grow, and then to be able to help them, you know, make it official that day, you know, and to see them now raising their two kids, and it's just going crazy.

Isn't that lovely?

Yeah. Yep. And they're just going, awesome. So those are my best days.

Okay.

Worst day was I got a phone call one night from a close friend who said, you have to go find my daughter. Her dad just died in a wreck, and they were up north and she was down, and it was her 21st birthday.

Oh, so you had to go find her. Find her.

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah. And so I'm trying. I call her. She's not answering. She's out with her friends, of course.

21St birthday. Three sheets to the wind.

Yep. So the mom called back and said, okay, she's at Crossroads.

Okay.

And so I remember walking down to Crossroads and walking and looking for her and just looking and thinking, why do I have to do this? And then I thought, nobody else here. None of these guys are going to do it.

Yeah.

And so found her and asked her, I say, hey, will you come outside with me?

Yeah.

And I told her.

And I remember her screaming and just holding her, you know, and then walking back through with her to the bar to get her to her friends that we could go and get her up to her mom.

Yeah.

And somebody wanted to fight me, looking at me because she comes in just crying, thinking.

Oh, thinking it was your fault, wanting to fight me.

And I just looked when I said I would sit down if I were you.

Yeah. Please.

You're gonna regret standing up right now because of what happened, but. Because I'm ready to kill you.

Yes.

But then to do that, and then, you know, to do the. To bury my friend.

Yeah.

You know, but then eight years later, to be able to do her wedding.

That's so wonderful.

You know, and from then on, from her to look at me, and she would call when she had a dad question.

Oh, that's so wonderful. Yeah. And when you make those types of connections with people, that is unbreakable. And that is. You know what I mean?

Oh, yeah.

That is what matters. That is what matters. All right, so next question. What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

I think it's from a guy named John Maxwell, and it was in a book, and I got to meet him later, but he just said to simply walk slowly through the crowd.

Ooh, that's very good.

Yeah. So I've just made that my pattern of the way that I minister, the way that I live.

You know, we have a PO Box on purpose so that we walk through downtown to go get the mail. I do a thing where I'll walk to the American Legion, then back to Crossroads, then to Boss, then to my house just to see people.

Yes.

But it's to walk slowly. We'll meet people.

And we met some people at Boss Cider, and they were laughing because it took me 10 minutes from when I walked in to get to the table where they were sitting.

Yes.

Because I stopped and talked to people.

Yes.

You know, and so you walk slowly. Walk slowly through the crowd. If not, you'll never get to know anyone.

That's great. I love that one. What's the worst advice you've ever had? Been given? Rather.

Four years of college. Pick a class.

So the whole four years of college,.

I had two professors believed in me.

Wow.

And the rest, like I said, told me to be quiet, not to ask questions.

And were you just going for your general?

No, that was to be a pastor.

Oh, the pastor.

Seminary.

Seminary school.

Yep.

Okay, so if you could become a pastor without seminary school, would you have done that? Can you become a pastor without.

Yes, you can.

Okay.

All you gotta do is find a church. Gullible.

Okay. Okay. Is it, like, illegal or. Okay.

Nope. Anyone can be a pastor.

Okay.

And so it's like. But I wouldn't trade that four years because it taught me to be tough.

Yeah.

You know, and to not worry about. You know, because there are people that have left our church because they don't. You know, I said something to upset them or something happened.

So if I would have given up in seminary, then I would have quit.

Right, Right.

You know, they called me. I graduated, and they called me four months after I graduated, and they were doing a brochure. So I ended up being senior class president.

And the only reason I did it is to make them mad.

That's great.

So they call me and the guy's saying, we're Doing this pamphlet. We'd like to have a quote from a recent senior class president. Okay. All right. And he goes, well, what would your quote be?

And I was like, well, I said, I was reading in Christianity Today that you only use like 80. You only use, like 13% of what you learn in seminary, in the actual ministry.

Wow.

And he goes, well, I don't agree with that, Toby. And I said, oh, yeah, I don't either. And he goes, why? You didn't think you would?

I said, yeah, because I'm having a hell of a time finding that 13%, You know? So he goes. So I said, so I guess you can put that in your paper. And then I just hung up.

That's great.

I mean, I've never gone back to a graduation. No, no, no.

Does anyone from that seminary school or that period of your life contact you ever?

I have a couple of friends that we went to school together. A couple. I helped graduate.

Okay.

You know.

And that was in Texas, correct?

Nope, that was in LA.

Oh.

Oh, okay. I left L in 85, moved to Los Angeles to go to school.

Okay.

And that's where I met Shelly.

Oh. That's all. Okay. Wait, was she at the same school?

Yep.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Was it love at first sight for her?

It was.

Oh, it was not for you. Does she know this? She knows this.

Obviously, you guys know it's a whole long. That's a whole nother.

That's a whole other podcast. Gotcha. Okay.

I'll tell you that story when we're up the air.

Yeah.

Okay, the last question is, if you could do anything other than what you currently do with your life where, like, money was no object, responsibility was no object, what would that be and why?

I think I would maybe teach in a seminary.

Okay.

So that I can mess up more churches.

I love that. I love that.

But I think besides that, besides, like, the faith bent on it, I would think it would be to just help other people, to do some sort of community service, to go find people that needed help, you know, things like that. But most of all, to still walk slowly through the crowd.

I love that. I'm going to use that from now on. Thank you so much, Toby, for hanging out with me today.

Sure. I appreciate it.

All right. And if there's anybody listening to the podcast that wants to come and hear you and hear a service, go ahead and let us know how they can do that.

Where can they find out information?

Yep. We have a website. Leslief.

Okay.

And then we're on Facebook. Leslie First Baptist Church.

Okay.

YouTube. We have a YouTube channel, which is completely awkward to me, but we did it right before Pandemic.

Okay. Okay.

So it sort of worked out.

Oh, perfect.

And I did it as a joke, okay. To show people that no one would watch. And so we just did a Mother's Day service that got 3,000 views.

That's so cool.

In a town of 2,000.

That's really cool. Are you kidding me? Congratulations, I guess. Yeah, that's cool. All right, again, thank you so much, Toby.

Thank you, Katherine.

You're welcome.

All right.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Conversations with Kate. You can find more information on LCC Connect's site as well as all social platforms, Facebook, Instagram, yes, TikTok as well. Big love.