In 1979, Rick Warren, recently graduated in theology, settled with his wife Kay in the Saddleback Valley area of Orange County, California.[4] He began to probe the people in his neighborhood to find out what prevented them from coming to church.[5] The answers that emerged were boredom, distance from everyday life, lack of welcome for visitors, insistence on money and inadequate programs for children. It is with these concerns that the church began in 1980, with a Bible study group, with six people, the pastor Rick Warren and his wife, in their condo.[6] The first worship service took place in the "Little Theatre" of Laguna Hills High School on Palm Sunday, in 1980.[7] In 1995, it dedicated a new building in Lake Forest including a 3,500-seat auditorium.[8]
In November and December 2006, Saddleback Church played host to the second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church. The summit featured 60 speakers, including Senators Barack Obama and Sam Brownback.[11]
The driveway to Saddleback Church of Rancho Capistrano campus in San Juan Capistrano.
On August 16, 2008, Rick Warren arranged a meeting between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama at Saddleback called the Civil Forum on the Presidency.[12] The format of the forum was structured such that Warren first asked Obama a series of questions; he then asked McCain very similar ones subsequently. It was broadcast live on national news networks and streamed online. Tickets were distributed to the public through a raffle with seats listing as high as $1,000, and the event was sold out.[13]
In 2018, the church said it had baptized 50,000 people since its founding.[14] In November 2018, CBS News listed Saddleback Church as the eleventh largest megachurch in the United States with about 22,055 weekly visitors.[15]
In 2021, the church was audited for compliance by the Southern Baptist Convention, after ordaining three women pastors that year and thus acting contrary to the Convention's confession of faith (Baptist Faith and Message) which believes that the pastoral ministry is reserved for men.[17] As of February 21, 2023, the church was removed from the SBC membership list due to the hiring of a female pastor in 2022, Stacie Wood, the wife of new senior pastor Andy Wood.[18][19][20] On May 16, the Southern Baptist Convention announced that Saddleback was seeking an appeal to be reinstated in fellowship. In June 2023, when it requested a review of the decision, church representatives present at the annual convention voted 88% to uphold this decision. [21] The church wanted to maintain its affiliation with the California Southern Baptist Convention, [22] but in October 2023, it decided to leave the state convention as well, in a desire to avoid divisions.[23]
According to a church census released in 2023, it claimed a weekly attendance of 30,000 people and 15 campuses in different cities. [24]
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Christian body in the United States. The SBC is a cooperation of fully autonomous, independent churches with commonly held essential beliefs that pool some resources for missions.
Richard Duane Warren is an American Baptist evangelical Christian pastor and author. He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical Baptist megachurch in Lake Forest, California. Since 2022, he serves as executive director of the Finishing the Task mission coalition.
The Purpose Driven Life is a bible study book written by Christian pastor Rick Warren and published by Zondervan in 2002. The book offers readers a 40-day personal spiritual journey and presents what Warren says are God's five purposes for human life on Earth.
Life.Church is an evangelical Christian multi-site megachurch based in Edmond, Oklahoma, United States of America. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Craig Groeschel is the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church. Weekly church attendance was 85,000 people in 2018. The church is known for its YouVersion ministry, which publishes the Bible App.
A multi-site church is a specific church congregation which holds services at multiple geographical locations, either within a specific metropolitan area or, increasingly, several such areas.
The P E A C E Plan is a humanitarian development program for churches and an evangelical Christian mission from Saddleback Church in Lake Forest in California in the United States.
Harvest Christian Fellowship is a Non-denominational Evangelical multi-site church based in Riverside, California, affiliated with the Calvary Chapel Association.
The Purpose Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message & Mission is a 1995 book by Rick Warren, founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, United States.
The Civil Forum on the Presidency was the venue of back-to-back interviews of U.S. presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama by pastor Rick Warren on August 16, 2008, at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.
Elevation Church is an Evangelical non-denominational multi-site megachurch based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Weekly church attendance was 14,000 people in 2023. Elevation has 20 locations. Its senior pastors are Steven Furtick and Holly Furtick.
Wiley S. Drake is a California-based minister and radio host. He was the vice-presidential candidate for the American Independent Party ticket in California in 2008. Drake has drawn controversy for his use of imprecatory prayer. He is the pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park in Buena Park, California.
First Baptist Dallas is a Baptist megachurch located in Dallas, Texas established since 1868. It is affiliated with the SBC. The Downtown Dallas Church is historically considered influential as a denominational leader among Protestant Churches in the United States serving as a successful model through its involvement of several legacy community missions.
The Salem Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch located at 752 E 114th Street in the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The senior pastor is Charlie Dates.
Robert James Jeffress Jr. is an American Southern Baptist pastor, author, radio host, and televangelist. He is the senior pastor of the 14,000-member First Baptist Church, a megachurch in Dallas, Texas, and is a Fox News Contributor. His sermons are broadcast on the television and radio program Pathway to Victory, which is broadcast on more than 1,200 television stations in the United States and 28 other countries, and is heard on 900 stations and broadcast live in 195 countries.
Lagoinha Baptist Church is a charismatic Evangelical Baptist multi-site megachurch based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais in Brazil. As at November 2022, Flavinho Marques is the senior pastor of the church. The church became known through one of its ministries, the worship ministry Diante do Trono, which is one of the world's largest ministries of praise, worship and mission. Some of the main services are broadcast live via Internet and also via their own TV and radio station: Rede Super. It is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, Brazil and Baptist World Alliance.
NewSpring Church is a Baptist Evangelical multi-site megachurch based in Anderson, South Carolina, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
Suwon Central Baptist Church is an Evangelical Christian Baptist megachurch located in Suwon, South Korea, affiliated with the Korea Baptist Convention. At present, the senior pastor is Myung Jin Ko.
Kay Warren is an American author, international speaker, Bible teacher and mental health advocate. She is the co-founder of the sixth-largest evangelical megachurch in the United States, Saddleback Church. Her ministry is headquartered in Lake Forest, California.
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