A Celebration of Women™ 

is elated this day to pay tribute to one of our founder’s faves, a man that has devoted his life to the spiritual betterment of others. Through his ministry and talents as the author of The Purpose Driven Life, this awakened male energy and his work is celebrated with deep appreciation and gratitude.  

A peacekeeper at heart, he supports The Global PEACE Plan through Saddleback Church which fights poverty, disease, corruption, and illiteracy through local congregations.

 
 

MAN of ACTION™ 

 

 

Rick Warren

 
 

Richard Duane “Rick” Warren (born January 28, 1954) is an American evangelical Christian pastor and author.  Warren was born in San Jose, California, the son of Jimmy and Dot Warren. His father was a Baptist minister, his mother a high school librarian. He was raised in Ukiah, California, and graduated from Ukiah High School in 1972, where he founded the first Christian club on the school’s campus, The Fishers of Men Club.

Warren received a Bachelor of Arts degree from California Baptist University in Riverside, California; a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1979) in Fort Worth, Texas; and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
Personal
 
He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States (this ranking includes multi-site churches). He is also a bestselling author of many Christian books, including his guide to church ministry and evangelism, The Purpose Driven Church, which has spawned a series of conferences on Christian ministry and evangelism. He is perhaps best known for the subsequent devotional The Purpose Driven Life which has sold over 30 million copies, making Warren a New York Times bestselling author.

Dr. Rick Warren is passionate about attacking what he calls the five “Global Goliaths” – spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy/poor education. His goal is a second Reformation by restoring responsibility in people, credibility in churches, and civility in culture. He is a pastor, global strategist, theologian, and philanthropist. He’s been often named ” America’s most influential spiritual leader” and “ America’s Pastor.”

As a pastor, he founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., in 1980 with one family. Today, it is an evangelical congregation averaging 22,000 weekly attendees, a 120-acre campus, and has more than 300 community ministries to groups such as prisoners, CEOs, addicts, single parents, and those with HIV/AIDS. Recently, the church fed 42,000 homeless people – three meals a day – for 40 days.

He also leads the Purpose Driven Network of churches, a global coalition of congregations in 162 countries. More than 400,000 ministers and priests have been trained worldwide, and almost 157,000 church leaders subscribe to Ministry Toolbox, his weekly newsletter. His previous book, The Purpose Driven Church is listed in “100 Christian Books That Changed the 20 th Century.” Forbes magazine called it, “The best book on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership in print.”

As a global strategist , Dr. Warren advises leaders in the public, private, and faith sectors on leadership development, poverty, health, education, and faith in culture. He has been invited to speak at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the African Union, the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, TIME’s Global Health Summit, and numerous congresses around the world. TIME magazine named him one of “15 World Leaders Who Mattered Most in 2004” and in 2005 one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Also, in 2005 U.S. News & World Report named him one of “ America’s 25 Best Leaders”.

Warren holds conservative theological views and holds traditional evangelical views on social issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and embryonic stem-cell research. Warren has called on churches worldwide to also focus their efforts on fighting poverty and disease, expanding educational opportunities for the marginalized, and caring for the environment. During the 2008 United States presidential election, Warren hosted the Civil Forum on The Presidency at his church with both presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama. Obama later sparked controversy when he asked Warren to give the invocation at the presidential inauguration in January 2009.

As a theologian, Dr. Warren has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Judaism, the Evangelical Theological Society, and numerous seminaries and universities. His six books are known for explaining theology in understandable ways and have been translated into more than 50 languages. Dr. Warren says he teaches theology without using theological terms and telling people it is theology.

His latest book, The Purpose Driven Life, has sold 25 million copies and is the best-selling hardback book in American history, according to Publisher’s Weekly. The Warrens designate 90 percent of their royalty income to charity through Acts of Mercy Foundation, which serves people living with HIV/AIDS and trains leaders in developing countries. Acts of Mercy Foundation primarily supports The Global PEACE Plan through Saddleback Church which fights poverty, disease, corruption, and illiteracy through local congregations.
 
Warren has been married to Kay Warren for 32 years in 2011. They have three adult children (Amy, Josh, and Matthew) and four grandchildren. He considers Billy Graham, Peter Drucker and his own father to be among his mentors.

Due to the success of his book sales, in 2005 Warren returned his 25 years of salary to the church and discontinued taking a salary. He says he and his wife became “reverse tithers”, giving away 90% of their income and living off 10%.

 
His sister Chaundel is married to Saddleback pastor Tom Holladay. His brother Jim C. Warren died in 2007.
 

The P E A C E Plan is an initiative begun by Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Senior pastor Rick Warren’s stated intention in launching the P E A C E (or PEACE) Plan is to involve every Christian and every church in every nation in the task of serving people in the areas of the greatest global needs.

The tag-line is ‘Ordinary people empowered by God making a difference together wherever they are’. P.E.A.C.E. is an acronym for the stated methodology for achieving the plan: “Promote reconciliation – Equip servant leaders – Assist the poor – Care for the sick – Educate the next generation.”

The PEACE plan is a hopeful response to the giant problems of the world. Problems affecting billions of people like Spiritual Emptiness, Self-Centered Leadership, Poverty, Disease, and Illiteracy.

The PEACE Plan is a church to church strategy mobilizing ordinary church members to do normal tasks that make a difference in the world. There aren’t enough doctors, teachers, or missionaries to solve the world’s giant problems, but we believe there is an army of believers waiting to be mobilized.

Through thepeaceplan.com, people connect with churches around the world that have identified PEACE Works in their community. Together, churches respond aggressively to the world’s five giant problems by:

1] Planting churches that promote reconciliation
2] Equipping servant leaders
3] Assisting the poor
4] Caring for the sick
5] Educating the next generation

The PEACE Plan is about turning an audience into an army, consumers into contributors, and spectators into participators. We believe it’s time for the church to be the church.
 

 
 
 
 

A Celebration of Women™ 

welcomes this awakened,

generous and powerful soul with open arms into our Alumni of MEN of ACTION™ 

 

 

 

Bravo Rick !!!