Dr. Payne has served in pastoral and church planting ministries in churches both in Kentucky and Indiana. Prior to joining the Southern faculty, he was an Assistant Professor at Crossroads Bible College in Indianapolis, and an Adjunct Professor of Church Planting and Evangelism at Southern Seminary. He has written several articles and reviews for academic periodicals in the areas of church planting and church growth, and he is the author of Missional House Churches and The Barnabas Factors. He has professional memberships in the American Society for Church Growth, the Evangelical Theological Society, the Evangelical Missiological Society, the American Society of Missiology, and the American Sociological Association.

Author of Missional House Churches: Reaching Our Communities with the Gospel (Paternoster), The Barnabas Factors: Eight Essential Practices of Church Planting Team Members (Missional Press), Discovering Church Planting: An Introduction to the Whats, Whys, and Hows of Global Church Planting (Paternoster), and the forthcoming book Evangelism DQA (Deepest Questions Answered): A Biblical Guide to the Questions You’ve Always Wondered About (Paternoster 2010).

Founder of the web-based resource www.northamericanmissions.org

Serves as the Southeastern Regional Vice President of the Evangelical Missiological Society

Serves as the book review editor for The Great Commission Research Journal

Serves on the editorial/advisory committee of the Evangelism and Missions Information Service at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College