Dr. Karl Payne

Pastor of Leadership Development & Discipleship Training, Antioch Bible Church  |  Author  |  Former NFL Chaplain

Biographical Overview

Dr. Karl Payne is an American pastor, author, speaker, and discipleship trainer widely known for his teaching on spiritual warfare, apologetics, and biblical discipleship. He has served vocationally in local church ministry since 1980 and currently serves as Pastor of Leadership Development and Discipleship Training at Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Washington. From 1994 to 2015, he served as chaplain for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League, and his teaching on discipleship and apologetics is widely known among professional athletes across the NFL as well as churches nationally.

Education & Formation

Payne attended Multnomah School of the Bible from 1972 to 1973, earned an Associate of Arts degree from Sacramento City College in 1973, and completed a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities at California State University, Sacramento, in 1976. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Studies (1980) and a Doctor of Ministry in Leadership Development (1996), both from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.

Ministry & Professional History

Payne has served continuously as a vocational pastor since 1980, beginning as Youth Pastor at Fourth Memorial Church in Spokane, Washington (1980–1989), followed by College Pastor at Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California (1989–1992), before joining Antioch Bible Church of Redmond, Washington, in 1992, where he continues to serve as Pastor of Leadership Development and Discipleship Training. His pastoral responsibilities over the years have included oversight of youth, college, men’s, and women’s ministries, small groups, discipleship and leadership training, internship ministry, and continuing education and conference programming. He served as chaplain to the Seattle Seahawks from 1994 to 2015 and has served as a board member for several Pacific Northwest seminaries over the past quarter-century.

Fields of Study & Expertise

Payne’s teaching and writing center on transferable discipleship training, Christian apologetics, leadership development, and biblical spiritual warfare — particularly the study of demonization and deliverance ministry within the church. He is a frequent conference speaker on these subjects across denominational lines.

Publications & Media

Payne is the author of a three-volume discipleship series, Transferable Cross Training (Vol. 1: Essentials, Vol. 2: Apologetics, Vol. 3: Leadership Development), and co-author of A Just Defense (1987) and Cross Training (1993), both published by Multnomah Press. He contributed chapters to The Encyclopedia of Biblical and Christian Ethics (Thomas Nelson, 1987) and The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics (Harvest House, 2008). His best-known work, Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization and Deliverance (2011), published by WND Books, remains a widely referenced text on the subject and an Amazon bestseller in its category.

Recognition & Reach

Payne’s discipleship and apologetics training is widely recognized among professional athletes throughout the NFL as well as churches across the United States, and his written and recorded teaching on spiritual warfare continues to be used as a reference resource by pastors and discipleship trainers nationally.

Personal

Karl and his wife, Gail, met in the college group of their home church, Arcade Baptist Church in Sacramento, California, and were married in 1976. They have one son.