Rick Warren
Rick Warren is a prominent American evangelical Protestant minister, best known for founding Saddleback Church in California in 1980, which grew to become one of the largest churches in the U.S. Warren gained widespread recognition through his best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life," which has sold over 32 million copies and is considered the best-selling hardback book in American publishing history. His ministry focuses on attracting "seekers," or individuals unfamiliar with traditional Christian worship, and he has been influential in the megachurch movement that surged in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Apart from his church leadership, Warren has engaged in global humanitarian efforts, addressing issues like poverty, disease, and literacy, particularly in Africa. He has voiced conservative views on social issues, which have ignited both support and criticism, especially regarding his stances on abortion and same-sex marriage. Warren's participation in high-profile events, such as hosting a Civil Forum on the Presidency in 2008 and praying at President Obama's inauguration, has further solidified his public presence. After a long ministry career, he semi-retired in 2022, passing his lead pastor role to Andy Wood, while continuing to advocate for social and mental health issues.
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Rick Warren
Pastor
- Born: January 28, 1954
- Place of Birth: San Jose, California
Pastor. Through his ministry at Saddleback Church, his best-selling books, his Internet presence, and his widespread appearances at conferences, Rick Warren became one of the most influential evangelical Protestant ministers in the United States.
After graduating from California Baptist College and Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary, Rick Warren and his wife, Kay, founded the Saddleback Church in 1980, beginning with a Bible study with one other family. An ordained Southern Baptist minister who also earned a doctor of ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary, Warren was determined to begin a congregation that would attract "seekers" unfamiliar with Christian worship. The church met in temporary facilities before building on a 120-acre campus in Lake Forest, California, an Orange County suburb, in 1995, the same year that Warren published his best-selling book The Purpose Driven Church. Saddleback quickly grew to become one of the largest churches in the United States, with more than thirty thousand people attending weekend services at the original location and at several branch locations by the mid-2010s. It became a prime example of the trend of megachurch growth in the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
In addition to maintaining his ministry at the Saddleback Church, Warren published numerous books and a weekly email newsletter for pastors with a circulation of almost 157,000 in 2016. Unlike many popular pastors of evangelical megachurches (large-attendance congregations generally designed to attract people with little or no experience with Christianity), however, Warren had no regular television program. His websites receive hundreds of thousands of hits per day. His book The Purpose Driven Life (2002) became the best-selling hardback book in the history of American publishing and has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide.
In August 2008, Warren hosted a Civil Forum on the Presidency at his church, which featured appearances by candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Warren gave one of the prayers at President Obama’s inauguration in January 2009. However, Obama's choice to feature Warren triggered controversy, as many progressive groups objected to the pastor's strictly conservative social views, such as opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage.
In addition to preaching in the United States, Warren also became involved in many global social reform ministries. He promoted a "peace plan" that encouraged Christians worldwide to help combat what he called "five global giants": poverty, disease, spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, and illiteracy. One of his main outreach projects involved working with children in Africa orphaned by warfare or the AIDS epidemic. Indeed, his work against AIDS, human rights abuses, and poverty led many world leaders, including Obama, to hold Warren and his initiatives as models for humanitarian efforts. Nevertheless, the pastor did attract considerable criticism as well, notably from liberals who argued that his methods of combating such issues were problematic and not always successful. For example, many questioned his support of the abstinence-only view of birth control and noted that his supporters and associates in Africa have campaigned against condom use and against LGBT rights. In 2018, he hosted the All-Africa Pastors' Gathering in Kigali, Rwanda.
Warren has frequently rebutted his critics by claiming that his positions were simply in support of religious freedom, including the freedom to hold beliefs such as that marriage is meant to be between a man and a woman. Though he officially avoided outright political endorsements, he often spoke to the media and his ministry about social and political issues, generally taking conservative viewpoints and often directly opposing the policies of the Obama administration. Another issue Warren tackled through his church was the impact of mental illness on society, which became personal to him after his son committed suicide in 2013 after struggling with mental health problems. In 2022, Warren semi-retired after forty-two years, passing his lead pastor role to Andy Wood.
Impact
Widely identified as one of most influential evangelical Protestant ministers in the United States, Rick Warren is a preeminent example of a megachurch pastor. Though he became a celebrity of sorts because of the impact of The Purpose Driven Life and his association with President Obama, Warren focuses his ministry on spreading the Gospel to those unfamiliar with traditional American church services and encourages his congregation to help fight global problems. In the 2000s, he was frequently included on lists of the most influential leaders in the United States and the world.
Bibliography
Abanes, Richard. Rick Warren and the Purpose That Drives Him: An Insider Looks at the Phenomenal Bestseller. Harvest, 2005.
"About Rick Warren." Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, pastorrick.com/about. Accessed 23 May 2024.
Brenneman, Todd M. Homespun Gospel: The Triumph of Sentimentality in Contemporary American Evangelicalism. Oxford UP, 2014.
Laura, Robert. "Pastor Rick Warren Is Well Prepared For A Purpose Driven Retirement." Forbes, 21 Mar. 2013, www.forbes.com/sites/robertlaura/2013/03/21/pastor-rick-warren-is-practicing-what-he-preaches-and-getting-ready-for-retirement. Accessed 23 May 2024.
Lee, Shayne, and Phillip Luke Sinitiere. “Surfing Spiritual Waves: Rick Warren and the Purpose-Driven Church.” Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace. NYU P, 2009, pp. 129–148. doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814752340.003.0007. Accessed 23 May 2024.
Marrapodi, Eric. "Rick Warren on Guns, God and Son's Tragic Death." CNN Belief Blog, 17 Sept. 2013, religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/17/rick-warren-on-guns-god-and-sons-tragic-death/comment-page-15. Accessed 23 May 2024.
Sheler, Jeffery L. Prophet of Purpose: The Life of Rick Warren. Doubleday, 2009.
Van Diema, David. “The Global Ambition of Rick Warren.” Time Magazine, 18 Aug. 2008, content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1830390,00.html. Accessed 22 Apr. 2023.