Rev. Rick Warren Bio
Richard Duane Warren (born January 28, 1954) is an American Baptistevangelical Christianpastor and author.[1][2][3] He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention in Lake Forest, California.
Warren says he was called to full-time ministry when he was a 19-year-old student at California Baptist University. In November 1973, he and a friend skipped classes and drove 350 miles to hear W. A. Criswell preach at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco.[7] Warren waited afterwards to shake hands with Criswell, who focused on Warren, stating, “I feel led to lay hands on you and pray for you!”[7]
During his time at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Warren worked at the Texas Ranch for Christ, a ministry facility of Billie Hanks Jr., where he began writing books. He co-wrote two books, The Victory Scripture Memory Series and Twelve Dynamic Bible Study Methods for Laity, with Hanks and Wayne Watts.[8]
In January 1980, he began a Bible study group, with seven people and his wife, at their Saddleback Valley condo, in Orange County, California.[9] In April 1980, Warren held Saddleback Church’s first public service on Easter Sunday at the Laguna Hills High School Theater with 200 people in attendance.[10][11] Warren’s church growth methods led to rapid expansion, with the church using nearly 80 different facilities in its 35-year history. The church now averages nearly 20,000 people in attendance each week.[12]
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 has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) since 2005.[13]
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