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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 which has been affirmed in numerous national feature articles, including: “The Global Ambition of Rick Warren” (Cover story) TIME 2008
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. Warren celebrated his 30th anniversary as pastor of Saddleback Easter 2010 with two celebration worship services at Angel Stadium. 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 and 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 nine books. These include “The Purpose Driven Life,” the best-selling hardback in American publishing history, according to Publisher’s Weekly. It has sold more than 40 million copies and was the best-selling book in the world for three years, now available in more than 90 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.” He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and 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, Technology, Entertainment Design (TED), and numerous world congresses. A prominent leader in today’s culture, Warren is often sought after by media as a resource on various religious issues. He and his wife, Kay, are active in HIV/AIDS ministry and have hosted several Global Summits on HIV/AIDS, attracting worldwide government, business and church leaders. Warren hosted the 2008 Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency with then-presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama as well as the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health with President and Mrs. George W. Bush. He also led the invocation prayer at the 2009 Inauguration of President Obama. That same year, Warren joined the Twitter movement and quickly became a top influencer, with more than 195,000 current followers. 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 PEACE 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, Caleb, Cole and Claire. 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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Warren was the only person rated “trustworthy” on Forbes’ 2006 “Celebrity 100” list. And in 2010, he was listed in a Klout study compiled for Forbes of the 20 most influential individuals on Twitter. He and the Dalai Lama were the only two religious leaders on the list with the rest representing entertainment, political and news “celebrities.”