Richard D. "Rick" Warren (born January 28, 1954) is
the founding and senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California. He is also
the author of many Christian books, including The
Purpose Driven Life, and a major influential (and controversial) evangelical
Christian leader.
Biography
Warren was born in San Jose, California, in 1954, the son of Jimmy and Dot
Warren. His father was a Baptist minister, his mother a high school librarian. Warren has a sister (Chaundel, who is married to
Saddleback pastor Tom Holliday) and had a brother (Jimmy Warren, Jr., who died in 2007). He
attended Ukiah High School and graduated in 1972.
Thereafter, Warren obtained a bachelor of arts degree from California Baptist University in Riverside,
his Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1979) in Fort Worth, and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena,
California. He also holds several honorary doctorates.[4] He has lectured in the cities of Oxford,
Cambridge, and at the University of Judaism (for Synagogue 3000), and the Evangelical Theological
Society, among numerous seminaries and universities.[5]
Warren has been invited to speak at national and international forums including The United
Nations, The World Economic Forum in Davos,
The African Union, The Council on Foreign
Relations, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, TED, and
TIME’s Global Health Summit. He is also a signer of a statement concerning the
global warming initiative.[6]
Warren was named one of "America's Top 25 Leaders" in the October 31, 2005 issue of U.S. News and World Report.[7] Warren was elected by TIME magazine as one of 15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004 and one of the "100 Most
Influential People in the World" (2005).[8] Newsweek magazine called him one of "15 People
Who Make America Great", an award given to people who, through bravery or generosity, genius or passion, devote themselves to
helping others.[9]
Warren has been married to Elizabeth K. Warren (Kay) for thirty years. They have three adult children (Amy, Josh and Matthew)
and three grandchildren. He considers Billy Graham, Peter
Drucker, and his own father (who was himself a Baptist pastor and an Southern Baptist Convention missionary), to be among his mentors.[10]
Ministry
Rick and Kay Warren have donated 90% of their income through three foundations: Acts of Mercy, which serves those
infected and affected by AIDS, Equipping the Church, which trains church leaders in developing countries, and The
Global P.E.A.C.E. Fund, which fights poverty, disease, and illiteracy.[11]
Rick and Kay also are directors of the following non-profit corporate fund streams/assets:
- Saddleback Church, with an annual budget of US$30 million[12]
- Acts of Mercy, which had US$8 million ending 2004[13]
- Purpose Driven Ministries, with US$47 million in gross receipts in 2004[14]
- The Global Fund
- RKW Legacy Partners
- Equipping the Church
Warren no longer takes a salary from Saddleback Church and repaid all of his salary from the last 25 years back to the church,
due to the success of his book sales. He now says he "reverse tithes", meaning giving away 90% of his income and living off of
10%.[15]
Purpose Driven
Over 400,000 pastors and church leaders from around the world have attended a seminar or conference led by Warren and other
pastors who share best practices as they seek to be more effective in fulfilling the Great
Commission and the Great Commandment. The term Purpose Driven refers to these
pastors' attempt to balance the five purposes of Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, and Evangelism in their churches.
Saddleback Church also started a non-profit web-site PurposeDriven.com to help communicate and coordinate the community.
Over the years, Christian leaders in 162 countries have used materials which stem from this movement. Through this
organization over 400,000 ministers and priests have been trained worldwide in his theology and practical methods. 189,000 church
leaders subscribe to Ministry Toolbox, the weekly newsletter.[16]
Criticisms
Warren's books have come under criticism from some Christian groups who question the practices promoted in these books,
claiming that they distort the gospel or otherwise employ questionable tactics, including New
Age teachings.[17] Other common criticisms include objections to the accuracy with which it presents the
Christian gospel, the accuracy of their Biblical exegesis, and various allegedly unbiblical
teachings.[18] However, there is also a significant majority of evangelical teachers who agree
with Mr. Warren.[citation needed]
Warren says he is inclusive beyond his Southern Baptist roots, and
welcomes pastors and leaders from all denominations to his training programs.[citation needed] Warren claims to stick to the "essentials" of the faith and focus on
"loving people into the Kingdom" of God in an attractive way without compromising the essential tenets of his faith.[19] Many critics,
however, contend that Warren does compromise on various doctrinal truths in his teachings, and that he espouses ecumenical
teachings.[1][2][3] Rick Warren has also come
under fire for his appearance at the 2006 Centenary of the Azusa Street Revival in
Los Angeles, which also had Word of Faith preachers such as Benny Hinn , T.D. Jakes, Kenneth
Copeland, and Creflo Dollar as guests. Rick Warren also has been criticized for
saying it is not necessary to study Bible Prophecy.
Warren was also heavily criticized by evangelical Christians when he was the only
significant evangelical leader to sign the highly controversial Global Warming Pact, primarily co-signed by non-Christians and
liberal mainline Christians. Many evangelicals took this as a sign that Warren had abandoned the conservative political views of
the majority of evangelicals, most of whom are skeptical of global warming theories.
In December 2006, Warren again drew the ire of fellow evangelicals when he invited Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama
to speak at a global AIDS conference held at Warren's Saddleback Church in
Orange County, California. Many evangelicals felt that this confirmed Warren's
rumored liberal political views. Warren vehemently defended himself, stating that he had also invited Republican Senator Sam Brownback to speak and
that he did not share Obama's support of abortion. However, this did little to alleviate fellow evangelicals suspicions that
Warren had "gone liberal."
Critics
There are a number of pastors, ministries and authors throughout the world who are critical of Warren and his teachings,
including Dr. John MacArthur, who addressed Warren in a chapter in his book, Fool's
Gold. Other critics include Chuck Smith, Jimmy
Swaggart, Dave Hunt, Daniel Dennett,
David Cloud, Berit Kjos, Texe
Marrs, and Dr. Noah Hutchings.
Wall Street Journal
Others express concern over what is described as the divisive nature of Warren's techniques. September 5, 2006, Wall Street
Journal writer, Suzanne Sataline, published "Strategy for Church Growth Splits Congregants".[20] Sataline cites example of
congregations who have split over purpose-driven growth strategies. Congregations nationwide have split or expelled members who
fought purpose driven changes and despite successes elsewhere, the exodus at some churches adopting the purpose-driven approach
has been dramatic, Sataline noted. A response was posted on A Rick Warren
Blog.
International travel controversy
Rick Warren has drawn criticism for some of his international travel. Some bloggers follow his travels and criticize him for
some of the places he has visited (like Syria) or has planned to visit (like North Korea).
See also
Notes
Bibliography
- The Purpose Driven Church (ISBN 0-310-20106-3)
- The Purpose Driven Life (ISBN 0-310-20571-9)
- Answers to Life's Difficult Questions (ISBN 0-9660895-2-9)
- The Power to Change Your Life(ISBN 0-9660895-1-0)
- What on Earth Am I Here For? Booklet (ISBN 0-310-26483-9)
- Personal Bible Study Methods (ISBN 0-9660895-0-2)
References
External links
Criticism of Rick Warren
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