Saddleback Church
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The Saddleback Valley Community Church (or just Saddleback Church) is an Evangelical Christian church in Lake Forest, situated in southern Orange County, in Southern California. The church was founded in 1980 by senior pastor Rick Warren.
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[edit] Founding History of the Church[1]
According to Rick Warren, Saddleback Church began as a prophetic vision when Warren was a 19 year-old Southern Baptist pastor. A turning point for Warren came in November, 1973, when he and his close friend Danny skipped classes at California Baptist University and drove 350 miles to hear pastor Dr. W.A. Criswell preach at the Jack Tar Hotel in San Francisco. When the altar call came after the service, Warren met Criswell:
| “ | After the service, my buddy and I stood in line to shake hands with Dr. Criswell. When my turn finally arrived, something unexpected happened. Criswell looked at me with kind, loving eyes and said, quite emphatically, "Young man, I feel led to lay hands on you and pray for you!" Without delay, he placed his hands on my head and prayed these words that I will never forget: "Father, I ask that you give this young preacher a double portion of your Spirit. May the church he pastors grow to twice the size of the Dallas church. Bless him greatly, O Lord." | ” |
[edit] Purpose Driven Church (PDC)
The Purpose Driven Church curriculum and book were written by senior pastor Rick Warren in 1995. The Saddleback Church promotes this PDC movement through the Purpose Driven Network. Purpose Driven Church was created to bring non-church going people into the church, get them saved, and make them disciples of the doctrine of that particular church, as shown in the concentric circle model.[2] . PDC emphasizes intentionally structuring a congregation around biblical purposes of the church as established by Jesus Christ: Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, and Worship, using a baseball diamond-shaped diagram to demonstrate participation in the church, with the first four purposes representing a "base" and with Worship in the center.[3]
Purpose Driven and Saddleback Church garnered national attention with the 2002 publication of The Purpose Driven Life, written by pastor Rick Warren.
[edit] Global summit
In November and December 2006, Saddleback Church played host to the second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church. The summit featured some 60 speakers, including prominent U.S. senators Barack Obama and Sam Brownback. The participation of Obama was somewhat controversial, owing to the senator's views on abortion, which conflict with those of Warren.[4]
[edit] Trivia
- Plans and proposals for the location of the Saddleback church settlement included Albuquerque, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle[citation needed].
[edit] See also
[edit] References and Notes
- ^ Chapter 1. "The Saddleback Story", Part One * Seeing the Big Picture; The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren.
- ^ Concentric Circles Model
- ^ Baseball Diamond Diagram
- ^ ChristianNewsWire article
[edit] External links
- The Saddleback Vision
- Saddleback Church
- The P.E.A.C.E. Plan
- Purpose Driven Church
- Purpose Driven Life
- Rick Warren
[edit] Criticisms
Note: The majority of these criticisms represent points of view that are not neutral. Most are specific opinions that do not reflect the mainstream christian perspective.
- Saddleback, Balancing Free Will & Predestination
- The Saddleback Controversy
- The Church Growth Movement - An Analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" Church Growth Strategy
- "Church Growth Gone Mad: A sobering look at the church growth seeker-sensitive models"
- Seeker Sensitive, Purpose Driven Churches
- An Examination of Rick Warren’s Teaching on “Exponential Growth” by Brian Jonson
- Christianity vs. Catholicism See Question #36
- Purpose Driven Church
