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Rick Warren: Dr. Rick Warren is a pastor, author, global strategist, innovator and philanthropist. Polls have identified him as “America’s most influential spiritual leader”1 and he has been listed in numerous articles: “America’s 25 Best Leaders” U.S. News & World Report 2006
In 1980, Warren and his wife Kay founded Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., starting with one family. Today it is one of America’s most influential congregations, with 83,000 names on the church roll, a 120-acre campus, and over 300 community ministries to various groups, including prisoners, CEOs, children with Down syndrome, addicts, single parents and people with HIV/AIDS. With the growth of the church, Warren built the Purpose Driven Network, a global alliance of more than 400,000 pastors representing 162 countries and hundreds of denominations who have been trained by Warren and his team. He also founded www.pastors.com, which provides sermons, forums and resources for hundreds of thousands of church leaders. Recognizing the mobilization and growth of the Saddleback ministries, Forbes magazine wrote, “If Saddleback ministry was a business its influence would be compared with Dell, Google or Starbucks.” Several of the innovative ideas Warren began are now commonly used in hundreds of thousands of churches around the world. Before his death, Peter Drucker noted, “Saddleback Church is the Bell Laboratories of Christianity – the R & D department of the Church. Warren has a genius for synthesizing complex ideas and simplifying them into practical models. He’s done it by organizing volunteers, preaching sermons, building multiple worship services, mobilizing small groups, creating systems for spiritual growth and networking churches. He’s the John Wesley of the 21st Century and the inventor of perpetual revival. But he’s also a reformer in the tradition of Wilberforce.” Warren is the author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” the best-selling hardback in American history, according to Publisher’s Weekly. It has sold 30 million copies in English and was the best-selling book in the world for three years, available in more than 50 languages. His previous book, “The Purpose Driven Church,” won the Evangelical Christian Publisher Association Gold Medallion and is listed in “100 Books That Changed the 20th Century.” Forbes called it, “The best book on entrepreneurship, management and leadership in print.” Warren is the author of a total of six books, which have been translated into a combined 56 languages. Warren frequently advises leaders in the public, private and faith sectors on poverty, health, education, corruption, leadership development, and faith and ethics in culture. He has been invited to speak to leadership gatherings around the world including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the United Nations, the Global Health Summit, the Aspen Ideas Institute, TED, and numerous world congresses. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Recognizing the blessings they have been given, the Warrens give away 90 percent of their income through three charities: Acts of Mercy, which serves people with AIDS; Equipping Leaders, which trains leaders in developing countries; and The Global P E A C E Fund, which fights poverty, disease, corruption, and illiteracy using local congregations. Warren was born in San Jose, Calif. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from California Baptist University, a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is father to Amy, Josh and Matthew, and grandfather to Kaylie, Cassidy and Caleb. The Warrens reside in Southern California. 1 USA Today, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, TIME, New Yorker, Boston Globe, Washington Post Media Quotes: Fortune: “America’s superstar pastor has an ambitious plan to mobilize millions to fight poverty, illiteracy, and AIDS in Africa, and he’s got the management genius to do it.... Warren is secular America’s favorite Evangelical.” The Times (London): “Business and political leaders across America are turning to Rick Warren for guidance.” The Economist: “Rick Warren is arguably the most influential pastor in America.” Business Week: “...the most celebrated of the nation's evangelical leaders. Warren is also an effective entrepreneur who has started three remarkably successful ventures.” ABC News: “The Purpose-Driven Life is the epicenter of a spiritual shockwave taking root across America in unlikely places like offices and university campuses. It has become a movement.” TIME: “Movie stars and political leaders aren't the only ones turning to Rick Warren for spiritual guidance. Millions of people – from NFL and LPGA players to corporate executives to high school students to prison inmates – meet regularly to discuss The Purpose Driven Life.” The Register: “...one of the 100 People who shaped Orange County in past 100 years.”
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In Forbes’ 2006 “Celebrity 100” list, Warren was the only person rated “trustworthy.”